HM Treasury

Tax Avoidance

David Simpson: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans the Government has to introduce legislation to restrict promoters of tax avoidance schemes.

Mel Stride: The government has taken significant steps to tackle the promoters of tax avoidance schemes. It introduced the Promoters of Tax Avoidance Schemes (POTAS) regime in Budget 2013 to tackle high-risk promoters, and Finance Bill 2017-2019 goes further by introducing a new penalty on the enablers of tax avoidance.

Pets: Sales

Chris Evans: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the amount of corporation tax revenue lost from unlicensed pet sales in the last 12 months.

Mel Stride: The information requested is not available.

Defibrillators: VAT

Thelma Walker: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of removing value added tax from community-purchased defibrillators.

Mel Stride: The current legal framework limits the VAT exemptions the Government can apply. The Government does maintain several VAT reliefs to aid purchases of defibrillators. These include VAT refunds of purchases made by local authorities and VAT relief for purchases made through voluntary contributions which are donated to eligible charities or the NHS.

Treasury: Brexit

Mr David Lammy: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of the Civil Service workforce in his Department dedicated to planning for (a) the UK leaving the EU and (b) projects relating to the UK leaving the EU.

Andrew Jones: A large proportion of the Treasury’s work is in some way related to exiting the European Union and this fluctuates over time as it interacts with Treasury’s other priorities. It is not possible, therefore, to accurately determine the proportion of the Treasury’s workforce engaged on EU Exit work at any one time.

Tobacco: Counterfeit Manufacturing

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to prevent financial disbenefit to independent retailers as a result of the sale of illicit tobacco in their area.

Andrew Jones: Illicit tobacco is an issue taken seriously across government, in addition to significant revenue loss (2.4 billion in 2015/16), illicit tobacco products damage legitimate UK businesses and undermine public health policies to reduce smoking prevalence. To prevent the damage that illicit tobacco causes, including to independent retailers, since 2000, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has adopted a strategic approach to tackling illicit tobacco. This has reduced the tax gap for cigarettes from 22% in 2000 to 13% in 2015/16 and for hand-rolling tobacco from 61% to 32%. The refreshed joint HMRC / Border Force strategy (‘Tackling illicit tobacco: From leaf to light’) published on GOV.UK in March 2015 demonstrated how that approach continues to adapt to the challenge as the fraud continually changes. This requires sustained action at all points in the supply chain in partnership with other enforcement agencies in the UK and overseas. The strategy also includes initiatives such as the introduction of a new scheme to control raw tobacco used to illegally manufacture tobacco products in the UK and getting tougher on those involved in the fraud through more effective use of the wide range of sanctions available to HMRC and other enforcement agencies. The government further supported this approach at Summer Budget 2015 and Budget 2016 by committing funding for additional staff in HMRC and Border Force to tackle illicit tobacco. In the last two financial years since the strategy was refreshed over 3.1 billion illicit cigarettes and 600 tonnes of hand-rolling tobacco have been seized resulting in over 800 prosecutions. Additionally, in 2017 HMRC launched a formal consultation seeking views on proposals for new sanctions to tackle illicit tobacco and tobacco duty evasion and is currently considering the responses.

Children: Day Care

Julie Elliott: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the performance and effectiveness of (a) National Savings and Investments and (b) Atos in respect of tax-free childcare since that policy was launched in April 2017.

Elizabeth Truss: I refer the Hon. Member to the answer that I gave on 16 October to the Hon Member for Arfon to PQ 105683.

Debts: Advisory Services

Catherine McKinnell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to increase funding for organisations that deliver free impartial debt advice.

Stephen Barclay: The government set up the Money Advice Service (MAS) in 2010. It spent just under £49 million on its debt advice work last year. This led to more than 440,000 free-to-client debt advice sessions being delivered across the UK. This funding comes from the Financial Services Levy. The level of funding is determined by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) after consultation with MAS and the broader financial services industry. The government is also fundamentally reforming the publicly-funded debt advice landscape. The Financial Guidance and Claims Bill, currently in the Lords, will bring together the Money Advice Service, PensionWise and The Pensions Advisory Service to form a single financial guidance body. Efficiencies created from the merger mean that the new body will be able to direct further resource to the front line.

Cars: Loans

Darren Jones: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has plans to bring forward proposals for regulations to protect the motor industry from the effect of outstanding personal contract payment deals in the event of a depreciation in vehicle values.

Darren Jones: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will undertake an assessment of the regulations on personal contract payment deals for car financing to ensure that such deals are compatible with consumer protection law in respect of (a) consumer information, (b) unfair terms and (c) enforcement of breaches of consumer law.

Stephen Barclay: The Government works closely with the UK automotive industry to understand the issues and opportunities the sector faces. The Government will continue its longstanding programme of support for the sector’s competitiveness. The Government has fundamentally reformed regulation of the consumer credit market, transferring regulatory responsibility from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on 1 April 2014. This more robust regulatory system is helping to deliver the Government’s vision for a well-functioning and sustainable consumer credit market which can meet consumers’ needs. Car finance companies which offer personal contract purchase products are required to meet the standards that the FCA expects of lenders, including making affordability checks and providing adequate pre-contractual explanations to consumers. FCA rules are binding, and the FCA has a wide enforcement toolkit to take action wherever these rules are breached. The FCA is committed to tackling sources of consumer detriment, and is looking at the car finance market to ensure that it works well and to assess whether consumers are at risk of harm. The FCA is carrying out supervisory work with lenders, and is carefully scrutinising firms’ sales practices and processes, to decide what further interventions may be necessary. This work includes assessing how well firms are managing the risk that asset valuations could fall, and how they ensure that they adequately price risk. The FCA will publish an update on this work in Q1 2018.

Capital Allowances

Marion Fellows: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect on business profitability of the annual investment allowance.

Mel Stride: The Annual Investment Allowance (AIA) provides companies with a 100% first-year deduction for their capital investment, up to the AIA limit. In order to support businesses to invest, the government increased the permanent level of the AIA from £25,000 to £200,000 from 1 January 2016. In 2016-17, it is forecast that the AIA provided support to businesses of £2.7 billion. It is estimated that 85% of the value of the AIA at £200,000 goes to small and medium-sized companies.

PAYE

Stephen Timms: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many Real Time Information reports were (a) late, (b) missing and (c) incorrect in the most recent period for which data is available; and what proportion of the total number of reports submitted those represent.

Mel Stride: HM Revenue & Customs do not currently measure data at the RTI report level requested. However, during the 2016/17 tax year approximately 590m payments to individuals were reported via RTI. 5.7% of those were reported late. HMRC does not hold the information in respect of missing and incorrect reports. HMRC have now begun a proactive initiative of using their data to educate employers to improve the timeliness and quality of their RTI submissions.

Carers: Child Tax Credit

Melanie Onn: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the potential number of kinship carers who will be unable to claim child tax credit for their own baby because of the restriction of child tax credit to two children in a household in each of the next three years.

Melanie Onn: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the likely savings that will accrue in each of the next three years from restricting child tax credit to two children for kinship carers who care for additional dependents.

Elizabeth Truss: The government is committed to making the welfare system fair for those who pay for it as well as those who benefit from it. Families on benefits should have to make the same financial decisions as families supporting themselves solely through work. However, in recognition that some claimants are not able to make choices about the number of children in their family, the government has provided exemptions for certain groups, including in cases of kinship care. The total costs of the exceptions for third and subsequent children are set out in the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/597335/PU2055_Spring_Budget_2017_web_2.pdf

Energy: Infrastructure

Dan Jarvis: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what priority he plans to place in the Autumn 2017 Budget on improving energy efficiency as a national infrastructure priority; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Jones: I refer the honourable member to the recently published Clean Growth Strategy, in which the government set out an ambitious package of commitments to drive energy efficiency improvements in homes and businesses across the UK.

UK Trade With EU

Paul Blomfield: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what representations his Department has received from other EU member states on the financial cost of the UK leaving the EU without a withdrawal agreement.

Elizabeth Truss: Treasury ministers and officials engage regularly with their counterparts in other EU Member States to discuss a wide range of issues, including the UK’s withdrawal from the EU. The Government continues to undertake the necessary work to prepare for every eventuality.

Treasury: Trade Agreements

Kirsty Blackman: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many officials employed in his Department as of 12 October 2017 have substantial experience of international trade negotiations.

Andrew Jones: HM Treasury has a strong and capable trade policy function which has grown significantly over the past year. In particular we have a dedicated team working on trade policy as well as a team focused on international trade in Financial Services. HM Treasury continues to work closely with other government departments, including the Department for International Trade, to build a world class trade policy that can deliver the best outcomes for the UK.

Prime Minister

Balfour Declaration: Anniversaries

Jared O'Mara: To ask the Prime Minister, what recent discussions she has had with the Prime Minister of Israel on the centenary of the Balfour Declaration.

Mrs Theresa May: During my discussion with Prime Minister Netanyahu on 9 October we discussed his forthcoming visit to the UK on the anniversary of the Balfour centenary. We are proud of the role we played in the creation of Israel, and will mark the centenary with pride and respect.

Prime Minister: Malawi

Hugh Gaffney: To ask the Prime Minister, whether she plans to visit Malawi.

Mrs Theresa May: For security reasons, my engagements are announced as and when appropriate.

Brexit

Mr Chris Leslie: To ask the Prime Minister, whether it is her understanding that the Article 50 notice signifying the intention of the UK to leave the EU is revocable.

Mrs Theresa May: I refer the hon. member to the answers I gave, on 9 October, to him, the right hon. member for Wolverhampton South East (Mr McFadden), Official Report, column 52, the hon. member for Bishop Auckland (Mrs Goodman), Official Report, column 60, the hon. member for Hampstead and Kilburn (Mrs Siddiq), Official Report, column 62 and the right hon. member for Exeter (Mr Bradshaw), Official Report, column 50.

Department for Work and Pensions

Universal Credit: Pensioners

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how pensioners in receipt of universal credit in mixed-couple households where one partner is over pensionable age and the other is below will be affected by the under-occupation penalty.

Damian Hinds: All mixed aged couples who under-occupy social housing, are subject to the policy to remove the spare room subsidy, if one partner is in receipt of Universal Credit.This is because working age claimants are better placed to meet a rent shortfall through taking up employment or increasing their working hours; and over the long-term, this measure helps ensure that people move to more suitably sized accommodation before both members of a couple reach state pension ageDiscretionary Housing Payments are available to those in receipt of the housing element of Universal Credit if they are unable to mitigate the impact of housing welfare reform. Since 2011 the Government has provided around £900 million to local authorities to help support vulnerable people affected by such reforms.

Universal Credit

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what arrangements are in place to enable people applying for universal credit who have no fixed address and no access to computers to receive notifications of their appointments with work coaches.

Damian Hinds: The main route to access Universal Credit is through digital channels. We actively encourage people to use the service in a digital manner in every instance but we understand there are circumstances in which this may not be possible. All jobcentres across the country have free Wi-Fi and there are more than 8,000 computers available to support customers who need help with making their claim digitally and applying for jobs online. This provides access to digital channels in every Jobcentre for claimants to use when they do not have access at home. A telephone helpline and face to face support are also available for claimants to make and manage a Universal Credit claim. Universal Support (US) is advice, assistance or support from Jobcentre Plus or local partners to help Universal Credit claimants with managing their claim or award of Universal Credit which includes accessing and using online services. The work coach will inform the claimant of their next appointment and contact details, in case of enquiry. Where needed the work coach will provide the claimant with a written note to remind them of the date of their next appointment, especially if the claimant has difficulty using or accessing online services.

Jobcentres: Sheffield

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he plans to publish the cost-benefit analysis of Eastern Avenue Jobcentre closure.

Damian Hinds: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 16 October 2017.The correct answer should have been:

We are not yet in a position to share any figures due to commercial confidentiality pending completion of legal processes. We expect to make savings by merging offices through reduced running costs and making best use of both office space available and taxpayer’s money.

Damian Hinds: We are not yet in a position to share any figures due to commercial confidentiality pending completion of legal processes. We expect to make savings by merging offices through reduced running costs and making best use of both office space available and taxpayer’s money.

Employment: Young People

Ian Paisley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment he has made of trends in youth employment.

Damian Hinds: Employment amongst 16 to 24 year olds in the UK is up by 200,000 since 2010 to reach 3.915 million. Unemployment amongst this age group has fallen by over 40% since 2010 to reach 528,000 – close to its lowest level on record.

Employment: Females

Ian Paisley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Government's policies in getting women into work.

Damian Hinds: We have made great progress in getting women into work. The female employment rate is 70.8% - which equates to a record 15.12 million women in work.

Unemployment

Ian Paisley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent comparative assessment he has made of rates of unemployment in the UK and other European countries.

Damian Hinds: The UK has the joint 4th lowest unemployment rate in the EU - better than France, the Netherlands and Denmark. The UK’s unemployment rate (4.3%) is the lowest in 42 years and is less than half that of the Euro area (9.1%) and 3.3% points below the EU28 average (7.6%).

Employment: Disability

Ian Paisley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what progress his Department has made on the Disability Confident scheme.

Penny Mordaunt: The Disability Confident scheme was launched in November 2016. As of 22 September 2017 5,162 employers had signed up to it, across a wide range of sizes, industries and locations, with this number continuing to grow. The Disability Confident Business Leaders Group, comprising of prominent national businesses, is leading efforts to promote Disability Confident to employers, as are industrial and professional membership bodies. Those businesses signed up as Disability Confident Leaders are encouraging and supporting other employers to sign up. Disability Confident is being promoted to employers via a wide range of Government activities including press releases, social media, events, conferences and links to the Gov.UK site. The Department is constantly looking to improve the Disability Confident offer to employers that sign up to the scheme and to do this we have introduced a specialist themed approach, offering additional advice, guidance and support on a wide range of topics such as Mental Health, Autism and Neuro-diversity and Reasonable adjustments. By utilising the expertise of Disability Confident Leaders, we are able to share best practice via events, webinars, blogs, video-links to benefit all Disability Confident employers.

Universal Credit: Payments

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, in what circumstances a first full universal credit payment can be paid within two weeks.

Damian Hinds: A first full Universal Credit payment cannot be paid within two weeks of making a claim, however, a claimant can apply for an advance of up to 50% of their Universal Credit payment during this period. We have recently refreshed our work coach guidance to make sure work coaches discuss advances with claimants who need them.

Department for Work and Pensions: Brexit

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of the Civil Service workforce in his Department dedicated to planning for (a) the UK leaving the EU and (b) projects relating to the UK leaving the EU.

Damian Hinds: EU Exit is an all-of-government operation. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is working closely with the Department for Exiting the European Union to support the UK’s exit from the EU. Staff within the EU and International Affairs Division in DWP lead on providing advice to Ministers on EU Exit and exit-related issues, but other members of staff across the Department also provide advice and analysis on EU Exit issues as required. Given the interactions between EU Exit work and the Department’s other priorities, it would not be possible to provide an accurate figure for the information requested.

Universal Credit: Pensioners

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what forecast he has made of the number of mixed-age couple pensioners who will have started a new claim for housing support under universal credit by 2022.

Damian Hinds: This information can only be provided at disproportionate cost

Personal Independence Payment

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the transfer of benefits from disability living allowance and employment and support allowance to personal independence payment.

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many (a) disability living allowance and (b) employment and support allowance claimants were not awarded personal independence payments following reassessment.

Penny Mordaunt: The Personal Independence Payment (PIP) reassessment process only applies to Disability Living Allowance claimants (DLA) who were aged 16 to 64 on 8 April 2013 (the date PIP was introduced) or who reach the age of 16 after that date. Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) claimants will not be invited to claim PIP unless they are also in receipt of DLA. Since July 2015 all DLA claimants who reach 16, report a change in needs or whose existing awards are ending have been reassessed for PIP. For those claimants with longer or indefinite awards, the reassessment process (Full PIP Rollout) has been in progress nationally since October 2015. Full PIP Rollout cases are selected at random and volumes are managed according to DWP and Assessment Provider capacity. The latest available data on personal independence payment (PIP) clearances split by type of clearance (i.e. whether the claim was awarded, disallowed or withdrawn) can be found at https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore can be found here: https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/index.html Please note that PIP statistics are published at Great Britain level.

Universal Credit: Telephone Services

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department plans to introduce a hotline for inquiries from hon. Members about universal credit before its wider roll-out begins.

Damian Hinds: I refer the Right Honourable Member to the answer I gave on 5 September 2017 to question 6374.

Universal Credit: Carers

Chris Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance he plans to issue to officials of his Department to aid them in deciding whether a full-time carer should be placed in the no work-related requirements conditionally group under regulation 89(b) of the Universal Credit Regulations.

Damian Hinds: Our staff already have access to guidance to aid them in making decisions of this kind. We are undertaking a current review to ensure that appropriate guidance is given to ensure that all carers are placed in the appropriate conditionality group.

Children: Disability

Chris Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many families receive disabled child (a) element within their child tax credit award and (b) premium via an income support or jobseeker's allowance award; and how many such families have a child who will qualify for a lower child disability addition under universal credit.

Damian Hinds: The information requested is not available.

Universal Credit: Carers

Chris Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether a carer will be placed in the no work-related requirements conditionality group of universal credit claimants if that carer provides full-time care for a disabled person awaiting a decision on their claim for a qualifying disability benefit.

Damian Hinds: The important role that carers play in our society is recognised and in Universal Credit a claimant who has caring responsibilities for one or more severely disabled persons for at least 35 hours a week should be placed in the no work related requirements group of Universal Credit. This includes those caring for a severely disabled person who is still awaiting an assessment for a severe disability benefit.

Universal Credit: Budgeting

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support with budgeting is available for universal credit claimants who are adjusting to monthly payments or have fluctuating incomes.

Damian Hinds: The main support that is available to claimants to help them manage a monthly payment is the online Money Management tool, designed in conjunction with the Money Advisory Service. This product provides free, impartial budgeting information and advice for claimants, based on their personal circumstances. We also offer Personal Budgeting Support (PBS). This is delivered by Local Authorities and funded by DWP. Personal Budgeting Support is support for those who need help managing the transition to monthly payments and prioritise essential bills. We have also published guidance for claimants on different earning patterns. Please see link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/universal-credit-payment-timeliness-january-to-june-2017

Universal Credit: Benefits Rules

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of (a) families formerly in receipt of tax credits and (b) other families who are likely to be affected by the universal credit capital rules.

Damian Hinds: The information requested is not available.

Department for Work and Pensions: EU Law

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what his Department's estimate is of the amount of EU legislation and regulation that can be incorporated into UK law without amendment.

Damian Hinds: The European Union (Withdrawal) Bill will convert European Union law into UK law as it applies in the UK at the moment of exit. This will ensure that, wherever possible, the same rules and laws will apply the day after exit as they did before. The Government is still making a detailed assessment of what corrections will be required to make that law function appropriately on exit day. The Department for Exiting the European Union are working closely with departments across Government to ensure we make the changes required to deliver a functioning statute book on exit in the most efficient manner possible.

Universal Credit

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effect of the minimum six week wait for successful claims of universal credit on (a) families and (b) other claimants over the Christmas 2017 period as part of his Department's planning for full-rollout of universal credit from 29 November 2017 in (i) Brighton and Hove and (ii) other areas; if he will make it his policy to suspend the full roll-out of universal credit  in (A) Brighton and Hove and (B) other areas where the six week wait falls over the Christmas period; and if he will make a statement.

Damian Hinds: Holding answer received on 16 October 2017



The Department plans to advance the timing of all payments where people would be impacted by bank holidays, to ensure they have money over the festive period. This includes the careful assessment of technical system and banking system availability to ensure successful payments can be made. This year we have enhanced the functionality and added a faster payment contingency function in Universal Credit. This includes supporting those customers with any request for an advance payment.  There are no plans to suspend Universal Credit rollout as stated by the Secretary of State in the House of Commons on Monday 9th October.

Universal Credit: Stirling

Stephen Kerr: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average length of time in days is that a universal credit applicant waits for their initial payment in Stirling constituency; what proportion of such applicants are assessed within six weeks in that constituency; and what the maximum and minimum times is in days from the date of first application to payment in that constituency.

Damian Hinds: We do not hold this information.

Work Capability Assessment

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans his Department has to reform the work capability assessment.

Penny Mordaunt: We consulted on reform of the Work Capability Assessment in the Improving Lives Green Paper. We received around 6,000 consultation responses, supported by 166 accessible events across the country. Our officials have been working hard since the Green Paper consultation to analyse that fantastic response. We are working towards an autumn publication, which will provide an update on the recent work we’ve been doing, respond to the consultation, and set out our next steps.

Veterans: Housing Benefit

Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support his Department provides to ex-service personnel who face the under-occupancy charge.

Caroline Dinenage: The policy to remove the spare room subsidy applies to all working age Housing Benefit and Universal Credit claimants living in and under-occupying social housing without exception. A couple of easements apply. For example an extra bedroom is provided for those who require overnight care from a non-resident carer and for couples who are unable to share a bedroom due to disabilities. Since 2011, the Government has provided local authorities with around £900 million in Discretionary Housing Payment funding to support vulnerable Housing Benefit and Universal Credit claimants who are unable to mitigate the impact of welfare housing reforms.

Social Security Benefits: Disability

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many (a) people whose primary medical condition is difficulty in hearing and (b) other recipients of Access to Work grants (i) are still in receipt of awards above £42,800 during the transition period for the cap on awards and (ii) have been given awards at the level of the cap since its introduction in April 2015.

Penny Mordaunt: The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Social Security Benefits: Disability

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support his Department has provided to Access to Work recipients whose grants will be reduced in April 2018 due to the end of the transition period for the cap on awards.

Penny Mordaunt: Access to Work customers identified as being affected by the award limit have been contacted each year by specialist advisers to review and discuss their needs and progress towards managing within the cap amount once their transitional protection ends.Advisers have promoted workplace assessments and technological solutions; we will also be inviting affected customers to take part in a trial of Personalised Budgets in order to give grant recipients greater choice and control in meeting their needs from their grants.

Department for Work and Pensions: Telephone Services

Ian C. Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many calls to his Department's helplines have been made in Wrexham constituency in each month in each of the last five years.

Caroline Dinenage: The Department for Work and Pensions does not hold this data.

Department for Work and Pensions: Telephone Services

Ian C. Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the total cost of calls to his Department's helplines has been by people in Wrexham constituency in each of the last five years.

Caroline Dinenage: The Department for Work and Pensions does not hold this data.

Housing Benefit: Supported Housing

Melanie Onn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans he has to undertake an equalities impact assessment of the proposed cap on housing benefit for those in supported housing.

Caroline Dinenage: The Department has undertaken an Equality Assessment on the proposal to cap housing benefit at the Local Housing Allowance rates for people in supported housing.

Maternity Payments: Carers

Melanie Onn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many kinship carers have been refused the Sure Start maternity grant for their baby because they are already raising other children in their household.

Caroline Dinenage: The Department for Work and Pensions does not collect this data.

Universal Credit: Telephone Services

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the (a) shortest, (b) average and (c) longest recorded call was to the universal credit helpline in each of the last 12 months.

Damian Hinds: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Universal Credit: Telephone Services

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance his Department has issued to ensure that universal credit claimants are informed of the option of being called back when telephoning the universal credit helpline.

Damian Hinds: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Universal Credit: Telephone Services

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the total number of telephone calls made to the universal credit helpline was from a (a) landline number and (b) mobile telephone number in each of the last 12 months.

Damian Hinds: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Jobcentre Plus: English Language

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what funding was (a) allocated to Jobcentre Plus for English for Speakers of Other Languages courses in (i) 2014-15, (ii) 2015-16 and (iii) 2016-17 and (b) spent in each of those years.

Caroline Dinenage: In 2014 funding of courses for Speakers of Other Languages in England was primarily provided through the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and Jobcentre Plus which were responsible for making referrals to the most appropriate provision to meet the customer needs. For Scotland and Wales, the Department for Work and Pensions established contracted provision for English Language Requirements in November 2014 with a total value of £14.06m, with anticipated spend of £3.2m in 2014/15, £7.9m in 2015/16 and £2.9m for 2016/17. Due to the low numbers of participants using this provision, a review was undertaken in Summer 2015, to consider future commercial viability of these contracts. Following consultation with Jobcentre Plus and providers, Ministers agreed a negotiated early termination of the provision, with no additional costs for DWP. Consequently total expenditure for English Language Requirements was 1.04m over the contract period, spending £87,000 in 2014/15, £625,000 in 2015/16 and £330,000 in 2016/17.

Department for Work and Pensions: Telephone Services

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average charge applied to mobile telephones calling 0345 numbers is.

Caroline Dinenage: The Department for Work and Pensions does not hold this data.

Work Capability Assessment: Exemptions

Tommy Sheppard: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the response by the Minister of State for Disabled People, Health and Work of 12 September 2017 to the letter from the hon. Member for Edinburgh East, on stopping of repeated work capability assessments for people who have lifelong, progressive, degenerative or incurable conditions, how that status will be determined; and whether people with such conditions who are already in receipt of employment and support allowance will be required to undergo a further work capability assessment to determine that status.

Penny Mordaunt: We will consider whether a claimant meets the criteria for stopping routine assessments as part of our existing WCA process, which involves assessing individuals against a set of functional descriptors to determine how their illness or disability affects their ability to work. The criteria are being considered as part of a claimant’s initial or next WCA.

Department for Work and Pensions: Telephone Services

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many calls to 0345 numbers his Department has received in the last year.

Caroline Dinenage: In the last 12 months the total number of calls to the Department for Work and Pensions’ 0345 telephone lines was 37,127,041.

Home Office

Immigration

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications for leave to remain on the basis of family and private life have been awaiting a decision for longer than (a) one year, (b) two years and (c) three years.

Brandon Lewis: Data on UK Visas and Immigration temporary and permanent migration activities including In-Country Work In Progress Casework, and Percentage of Temporary and Permanent Migration in-country visa applications for each Route, processed within Service Standards, is published on the .GOV.UK website. In this instance the data provided on worksheet InC_05 gives an overall picture across Temporary and Permanent Migration and is not determined by Route. The latest edition is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/in-country-migration-data-august-2017

Immigration

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications for leave to remain on the basis of family and private life were received in (a) 2014, (b) 2015 and (c) 2016.

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many leave to remain applications on the basis of family and private life were received in each year since 2014.

Brandon Lewis: Data on UK Visas and Immigration temporary and permanent migration activities including In-Country Work In Progress Casework, and Percentage of Temporary and Permanent Migration in-country visa applications for each Route, processed within Service Standards, is published on the .GOV.UK website. The relevant Routes are ‘Spouse/Partner’ and ‘HR/Complex Case’ as indicated on worksheet InC_01 and InC_01a.https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-transparency-dataThe relevant tables are also attached to this answer.2014 figures (Excel SpreadSheet, 29.66 KB)2015 figures (Excel SpreadSheet, 38.02 KB)2016 figures (Excel SpreadSheet, 40.81 KB)

Refugees: Children

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average time is from point of application to completion for an unaccompanied minor under the Dublin III treaty.

Brandon Lewis: The Dublin III Regulation is a long-standing mechanism between EU Member States to determine responsibility for examining asylum claims. It is not an application route for transfer to the UK. At present we do not publish data on cases covered by the Dublin Regulation. Eurostat, the EU’s statistics agency, regularly publishes Member State figures, which can be found at: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Dublin_statistics_on_countries_responsible_for_asylum_application The Government has committed to publishing regular updates on the number of unaccompanied asylum seeking children transferred to the UK from Europe, including those transferred under the Dublin III Regulation. This data will be published in the coming months. Under the Dublin III Regulation, the UK has two months from receiving a request from another participating Member State to accept or reject responsibility for processing the asylum claim. Within this two month period, the Home Office will undertake a number of mandatory checks, including security and a local authority assessment. Where possible, the Home Office will decide cases ahead of the two month deadline. Once a Dublin request has been accepted, the Regulation provides that the sending Member State has six months to enact the transfer. The Home Office works closely with EU Member State partners to enact transfers as soon as possible and ahead of the six month timeframe.

Police: Wales

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the efficacy of the apprenticeship levy on funding police training in Wales.

Mr Nick Hurd: Standards in policing must be maintained and transferrable across forces in England and Wales, and it is vital that all officers have access to training that equips them to deliver the high standard of service that the public expects. The Degree Apprenticeship entry route forms a key part of the Police Education Qualifications Framework (PEQF) being developed by the College of Policing and is an important element of further professionalising and raising standards in policing. Welsh forces pay the apprenticeship levy, and those funds are passed back to the Welsh Government through the agreement which the Welsh Government negotiated with HM Treasury. As Wales is already receiving its share of the levy, there is a clear choice to for Welsh Government on whether it supports Welsh police officers by funding their apprenticeships.

Refugees: Children

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications from unaccompanied children her Department is considering under the Dublin III Regulation.

Brandon Lewis: The Dublin III Regulation is a long-standing mechanism between EU Member States to determine responsibility for examining asylum claims. It is not an application route for transfer to the UK. At present we do not publish data on cases covered by the Dublin Regulation. Eurostat, the EU’s statistics agency, regularly publishes Member State figures, which can be found at: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Dublin_statistics_on_countries_responsible_for_asylum_application The Government has committed to publishing regular updates on the number of unaccompanied asylum seeking children transferred to the UK from Europe, including those transferred under the Dublin III Regulation. This data will be published in the coming months. Under the Dublin III Regulation, the UK has two months from receiving a request from another participating Member State to accept or reject responsibility for processing the asylum claim. Within this two month period, the Home Office will undertake a number of mandatory checks, including security and a local authority assessment. Where possible, the Home Office will decide cases ahead of the two month deadline. Once a Dublin request has been accepted, the Regulation provides that the sending Member State has six months to enact the transfer. The Home Office works closely with EU Member State partners to enact transfers as soon as possible and ahead of the six month timeframe.

UK Border Force: Staff

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of UK Border Force officers were absent on each day of August 2017.

Brandon Lewis: The data is not recorded centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Refugees: Children

Thelma Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) children and (b) unaccompanied children the Government estimates will be resettled under the Vulnerable Children's Resettlement Scheme during the course of the 2017 Parliament.

Brandon Lewis: The Vulnerable Children’s Resettlement Scheme will resettle up to 3,000 at-risk children and their families by 2020, but it is not possible to say what proportion of these will be children.We continue to work closely with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to identify appropriate cases, prioritising the most vulnerable. The numbers resettled in a particular period will depend on a range of factors including the flow of referrals from UNHCR in the field and the availability of suitable accommodation in the UK. We will manage the flows based on need and in support of the wellbeing of the people and communities involved.

Immigration: Children

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many leave to remain applications on the basis of family and private life were submitted for a child's right to remain in each year since 2014.

Brandon Lewis: This information can only be provided at disproportionate cost.

UK Visas and Immigration: Lost Property

Alison Thewliss: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applicants have documents recorded as lost by UK Visas and Immigration in each year since 2010.

Brandon Lewis: The specific data requested is not published by the Home Office.

Visas

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average length of time is for a visa to be issued for a visitor to the UK from a non-EU country in the latest period for which figures are available.

Brandon Lewis: The specific data requested is not published by the Home Office. Published data on visa processing times, including the percentage of visas processed within published service standards, is published online at the following address: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-transparency-data (then listed by publication date under ‘UK Visas & Immigration’).

Refugees: Children

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many unaccompanied minors have arrived in the UK under the Vulnerable Children Resettlement Scheme; how many of those minors went into foster care; and how many have been sponsored or hosted by communities.

Brandon Lewis: Our prime concern is the safety and protection of unaccompanied minors resettled in the UK as they arrive in this country. We want to protect their privacy and ensure their recovery and integration, as they rebuild their lives in safe and secure surroundings, among supportive communities in the UK. We will not, therefore, be providing a running commentary on numbers of unaccompanied children resettled through the scheme. Progress on resettlement under the Vulnerable Children’s Resettlement scheme is indicated in quarterly immigration statistics. The last set of statistics, published on 24 August, showed that 280 vulnerable people have been resettled since the scheme began in 2016. The statistics are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release

Jews: Yemen

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assistance the Government is providing to Jewish people seeking to leave Yemen.

Brandon Lewis: There are safe and legal routes for people to come to the UK should they wish to join family members here, work or study. They would need to meet the requirements of the relevant Immigration Rule under which they were applying to qualify for a visa. Details about the criteria and how to apply are available on the GOV.UK website at: http://www.gov.uk/apply-uk-visa. However, there is no provision in the Immigration Rules for people to be allowed to travel to the UK to seek asylum. Those who need international protection should claim in the first safe country they reach – that is the fastest route to safety. Those who have left Yemen and been recognised as refugees by UNHCR may be eligible for resettlement under one of our discretionary resettlement schemes: Gateway, Mandate or the Vulnerable Children’s Resettlement Scheme which resettles at-risk children and their families living in Turkey, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan or Lebanon.

Visas

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what checks are conducted on those who apply for a UK Tier 1 investor visa.

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with her Cypriot counterpart in the Government about its golden visa schemes.

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the operation of the UK Tier 1 investor visa scheme.

Brandon Lewis: The Tier 1 (Investor) route is for non-EEA nationals seeking to invest at least £2 million in the UK economy. We require all Tier 1 (Investor) applicants to have opened an account with a Financial Conduct Authority-regulated bank for the purposes of making their qualified investment. If an investor is applying to enter the UK, then they must provide proof of overseas criminal record checks. Investor visas may be refused where there are reasonable grounds to believe that the applicant is not in control of their funds; the funds were obtained unlawfully; or the character, conduct and associations of a third party providing the funds mean granting the application is not conducive to public good. The independent Migration Advisory Committee reviewed the Tier 1 (Investor) route in 2014. Following that review, we made a number of changes to the route, to ensure that the UK remains an attractive destination for genuine investors and that those who choose to come here contribute to our economy. We keep all immigration routes under review and do not rule out making further changes if required. The Home Secretary has not held discussions with the Cyprus Government about its investor visa scheme. The terms of that scheme are a matter for Cyprus. Until we have left the EU the UK remains bound by free movement rules, however, and we would object if another Member State made changes that could lead to abuse of free movement rights in the UK.

Visas: South Asia

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of applications for visitor visas have been granted in (a) India and (b) Pakistan in each of the last five years.

Brandon Lewis: Entry clearance visa applications and resolution: Pakistani Visitor visas (including dependants) ApplicationsResolvedOf which   Calendar Year  GrantedRefusedWithdrawnLapsed201285,50087,17254,76832,11524445201385,74988,90161,57827,1022138201487,54189,70957,11732,33222832201590,06090,30544,97645,12618518201683,57283,29541,09542,0671330Immigration Statistics April-June 2017, visas volume 1 table vi_01_q and corresponding datasets.Data on visa grants, refusals, withdrawn or lapsed cases may relate to applications made in an earlier period.  Entry clearance visa applications and resolution: Indian Visitor visas (including dependants) ApplicationsResolvedOf which   Calendar Year  GrantedRefusedWithdrawnLapsed2012335,850335,261298,88435,4378191212013352,740354,262316,91136,510802392014352,880354,184319,80433,647697362015411,182411,526367,21143,660615402016450,797450,401390,03659,84349329Immigration Statistics April-June 2017, visas volume 1 table vi_01_q and corresponding datasets.Data on visa grants, refusals, withdrawn or lapsed cases may relate to applications made in an earlier period.  Statistics on entry clearance visas are published in ‘Immigration Statistics’, available from the Home Office website at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-statistics

Asylum

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of applications for asylum were refused, broken down by gender, in each of the last five years.

Brandon Lewis: All asylum claims lodged in the UK are carefully considered on their individual merits against a background of relevant case law and up to date country information. We ensure that claimants are given every opportunity to disclose information relevant to their claim before a decision is taken, even where that information may be sensitive or difficult to disclose.The Home Office publishes figures on the outcome of asylum claims made during each calendar year in table as_06 of the Immigration Statistics release.A copy of the latest release, Immigration Statistics April to June 2017 is available from https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-statistics-april-to-june-2017-data-tables

Immigration

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many immigrants with dependents had the no recourse to public funds condition applied to their leave to remain in (a) 2015-16 and (b) 2016-17.

Brandon Lewis: The published statistics on grants and refusals of extensions of leave by category can be found in table ex_01_q in the Immigration Statistics release. The latest release Immigration Statistics covering 2015-16 and 2016-17, is available for download at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-statistics-april-to-june-2017-data-tables with the extensions tables at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/638594/extensions-apr-jun-2017-tables.ods

Visas

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many standard visitor visa applications were (a) received from, (b) granted to and (c) denied to artists, entertainers and musicians in the last year for which figures are available.

Brandon Lewis: This information is not centrally recorded.

Domestic Violence

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many allegations of coercive control in a domestic setting were investigated by the police in England and Wales in the last 12 months; and how many of those investigations led to a prosecution.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Office for National Statistics publishes information on the number of coercive or controlling behaviour in an intimate or family relationship offences recorded by the police. This information is published in the ‘Crime in England and Wales: year ending March 2017’ statistical bulletin, which can be found here: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/bulletins/crimeinenglandandwales/yearendingmar2017 The Home Office does not hold information on allegations, investigations or prosecutions. Information on prosecutions is the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice.

Radicalism

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance her Department gives to police authorities on how to prioritise and investigate information from the public on extremist behaviour or views.

Mr Nick Hurd: The prioritisation and investigation of extremist views by the Police is an operational matter for the Police. These decisions will be informed by the evidence available, whether a criminal offence has taken place and the Police’s professional judgement.

Domestic Violence

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a domestic violence register for people convicted of such violence.

Sarah Newton: The Government is fully committed to tackling domestic abuse and doing all we can to protect victims and robustly target perpetrators. Those convicted of domestic abuse related offences are already captured on the Police National Computer. Where appropriate, they will also be captured on other systems such as on the Dangerous Persons database and managed by police and probation under Multi-agency Public Protection Arrangements. The Government’s focus is on ensuring we make better use of existing systems, rather than creating new databases or registers for different offences, which risks a disjointed police and offender management response. In addition, the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme has also been rolled out nationally to inform and alert new partners about a perpetrator's previous offending.

Stalking

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has plans to introduce a stalking protection order.

Sarah Newton: Stalking and harassment are devastating crimes which cause great distress to victims. That is why we strengthened the law by creating specific stalking offences in 2012 and raising the maximum sentence for stalking and harassment to 10 years through the Policing and Crime Act 2017. Support for victims requires more than prosecution after the fact. That is why, we are introducing a new Stalking Protection Order to support victims of stalking at an earlier stage and address the perpetrator’s behaviours before they become entrenched. The new stalking protection order will support existing tools to ensure there are robust protections available to victims of ‘stranger stalking’. Primary legislation is required to introduce the order and will be taken forward as soon as Parliamentary time allows.

Visas: Skilled Workers

Anna Soubry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of priority applications for Tier 2 visas were not processed before the 60 day limit in each of the last three years.

Brandon Lewis: Statistics relating to the processing of entry clearance visas (out of country) and in-country casework, against service standards are published as part of the Home Office’s Migration Transparency data.The latest editions of which are available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/international-operations-transparency-data-august-2017 and https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/in-country-migration-data-august-2017

Overseas Students

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to exclude international students from government immigration figures; and if she will make a statement.

Brandon Lewis: I refer the honourable member to the answer I gave to this question on 5th July 2017 [2807].

Immigration

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people subject to immigration control with dependents had the no recourse to public funds condition lifted in (a) 2015-16 and (b) 2016-17.

Brandon Lewis: The published statistics on grants and refusals of extensions of leave by category can be found in table ex_01_q in the Immigration Statistics release. The latest release Immigration Statistics covering 2015-16 and 2016-17, is available for download at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-statistics-april-to-june-2017-data-tables  with the extensions tables at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/638594/extensions-apr-jun-2017-tables.ods

Passports

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether British passports renewed between now and March 2019 will need to be renewed once the UK leaves the EU.

Brandon Lewis: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 7 December 2016 to the question from my hon. Member for Romford, UIN 55575.

Immigration

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people subject to immigration control with dependents applied to have the no recourse to public funds condition on their leave to remain lifted in (a) 2015-16 and (b) 2016-17.

Brandon Lewis: The published statistics on grants and refusals of extensions of leave by category can be found in table ex_01_q in the Immigration Statistics release. The latest release Immigration Statistics covering 2015-16 and 2016-17, is available for download at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-statistics-april-to-june-2017-data-tables with the extensions tables at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/638594/extensions-apr-jun-2017-tables.ods

Asylum: Libya

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Government has had discussions with the Libyan Government on the location of trials for Libyan citizens who have been granted asylum in the UK and have subsequently been charged with crimes committed in the UK.

Brandon Lewis: We do not disclose information about refugees to the state authorities of the country in which they face persecution or serious harm. We deny the benefits of refugee status to those who commit serious crimes and are a danger to the community and those who are a danger to national security. Those refused asylum but who cannot be removed because doing so would breach our international obligations under the Refugee Convention are granted shorter more restrictive leave and subject to regular review to ensure they are removed at the earliest opportunity.

Refugees

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to increase the number of resettlement places offered by the Government to at least 10,000 places per year for people fleeing war and persecution; and if she will make a statement.

Brandon Lewis: The UK has already committed to resettling 23,000 of the most vulnerable refugees from the Middle East and North Africa region by the year 2020 through our Vulnerable Persons and Vulnerable Children’s resettlement schemes, and we have no plans to increase this at the present time. This is in addition to those we resettle through our Gateway and Mandate schemes and the thousands who receive protection in the UK under normal asylum procedures. Our priorities are humanitarian aid and actively seeking an end to the conflict in Syria. We believe this approach is the best way to ensure that the UK’s help has the greatest impact for the majority of refugees who remain in the region and their host countries.

Asylum: Yazidis

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Yazidi people have been admitted to the UK under the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme.

Brandon Lewis: The Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme prioritises the most vulnerable refugees, and that is why under the scheme UNHCR identifies refugees for resettlement using its established vulnerability criteria. The UK resettles solely on the basis of needs, identified by UNHCR. Individuals , ethnic and religious background is not part of this consideration. We do not publish a religious or ethnic breakdown of those who have been resettled.

Police: Finance

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the change in the level of police forces' collective total revenue reserves over the last three years.

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent estimate her Department has made of the amount police forces are holding in (a) general and (b) total revenue reserves.

Mr Nick Hurd: Total reserves were £1.8bn in 2016 and £2.1bn in 2015 and remain higher than the £1.4bn held in 2011. The exact level of reserves is a matter for individual Police and Crime Commissioners, who have a legal duty to set balanced annual budgets and ensure they have adequate reserves.Usable reserve levels that the police have built up over time must form a key part of police plans to reform to meet changing demands.

Airguns

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what opportunities her Department is planning for interested stakeholders and members of the general public to participate in the forthcoming review of the regulation of air weapons in England and Wales.

Mr Nick Hurd: I announced a review of the regulation of air weapons on Monday 9 October. Details of the scope of the review and how to participate will be set out shortly.

Immigration: Biometrics

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 10 October 2017 to Question 10463, if she will make an assessment of the (a) effectiveness of procedures and (b) adequacy of the time taken to process applications for no time limit and biometric immigration documentation by people who already have indefinite leave to remain.

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 10 October 2017 to Question 10463, on immigration: biometrics, what mechanisms are in place to measure effectiveness of the continuous improvement processes employed by her Department.

Brandon Lewis: a) As the previous answer, 10463, highlighted, UK Visas and Immigration are committed to the principles of continuous improvement in all areas and to applying these to ensure processes are efficient and effective. b) Published service standards for all No Time Limit, and Biometric Residence Permit replacement, applications are to complete 100% of straightforward applications within six months. Where an application is defined as non-straightforward, due to complexity, the customer will be written to within the normal processing time to explain why it will not be decided within the normal standard, and to explain what will happen next. Since 2012 UK Visas and Immigration have undertaken numerous improvements to streamline the process and improve customer service. This included introducing biometrics to Non-EEA national applications and applications for British Citizenship. We have introduced email prompts to customers and improved the wording on correspondence letters and the UK Visas and Immigration website to ensure customers are aware of the application process and solutions to common issues. We have measured this through monitoring the time taken for applicants to enrol their biometrics and from customer feedback when resolving issues. Moving to digital applications, UK Visas and Immigration are looking at continuous improvement once again to improve efficiency in collecting applicants biometric data.

Visas: Malawi

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 10 October 2017 to Question 105263, how many applications were made by Malawian nationals for visit visas (a) took longer to process than and (b) were processed within the standard processing timescale in the last year for which figures are available.

Brandon Lewis: The specific data requested is not published by the Home Office. The data on visa processing times that is published can be found online at the following address: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-transparency-data

Gambling: Crime

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effect of problem gambling and gambling addiction on acquisitive crime.

Sarah Newton: I have not undertaken an assessment. The Modern Crime Prevention Strategy published in March 2016 sets out how we analyse and respond to crime through the consideration of six drivers of crime (opportunity, character, effectiveness of the criminal justice system, profit, drugs and alcohol). This includes looking at new and emerging trends in acquisitive crime where we work closely with the police and relevant industry leads.

Missing Persons: Children

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many children and young people under the age of 18 from (a) Camberwell and Peckham constituency and (b) the London Borough of Southwark are classified as missing persons.

Sarah Newton: The Home Office does not hold these data centrally.Police-force level missing people statistics are published by the National Crime Agency’s Missing Person’s Bureau (http://missingpersons.police.uk/en/resources/downloads).

Terrorism: Wolverhampton

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on the number of people who have been (a) arrested and (b) charged in Wolverhampton on terrorism-related offences.

Mr Ben  Wallace: The Home Office does not hold the information requested.The Home Office publishes data on the number of persons arrested and charged for a terrorism-related offences in Great Britain. From these data, we cannot identify the location of where arrests for terrorism-related offences occurred.The data that the Home Office does hold can be found in the quarterly ‘Operation of police powers under the Terrorism Act 2000 and subsequent legislation’ statistical bulletins, which can be accessed here:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/operation-of-police-powers-under-the-terrorism-act-2000

Firearms: Crime

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on the extent of use of .50 calibre rifles in incidents of criminal activity.

Mr Nick Hurd: On 14 October we published the paper ”Consultation on new legislation on offensive and dangerous weapons”. This included the proposal to make 0.50 calibre rifles subject to the controls on section 5 of the Firearms Act 1968. This is in response to concerns about such a powerful rifle only being subject to the controls in section 1 of the Firearms Act 1968 and the nature of the current threat to security we are facing. We are aware of one criminal incident involving the theft of such a firearm which was subsequently recovered.

Police: Pay

Sir Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much the one per cent police pay rise will cost each police force in England.

Mr Nick Hurd: On 12 September, the Government announced that, for the police pay year 2017-18, police officers up to the rank of Chief Superintendent would receive a one per cent increase to basic pay plus an additional one per cent non-consolidated payment. Chief police officers would receive a one per cent increase to basic pay. The pay award is applied from 1 September. The total cost of the one per cent increase to basic pay for all officers in England and Wales has already been budgeted for by police forces and amounts to around £65m. The additional one per cent payment is a one off cost of approximately £50m, representing under half of one per cent of annual police force funding. The total cost to individual police forces will depend on a range of factors including local decisions about staffing and deployment.

Firearms: Crime

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many firearms offences committed in the UK involved the use of (a) .50 calibre bolt-action rifles, (b) .22lr calibre semi-automatic rifles and (c) semi-automatic shotguns in each of the last three years.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Home Office holds information on the number of offences involving a firearm recorded by the police in England and Wales but does not hold information on the calibre of the weapons used in these offences. Information on the number of offences involving a firearm by type of weapon is published on a quarterly basis in the Office for National Statistics ‘Crime in England and Wales’ bulletin (Table 8), available here: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/datasets/crimeinenglandandwalesbulletintables

Northern Ireland Office

Northern Ireland Office: EU Law

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what his Department's estimate is of the amount of EU legislation and regulation that can be incorporated into UK law without amendment.

Chloe Smith: The European Union (Withdrawal) Bill will convert European Union law into UK law as it applies in the UK at the moment of exit. This will ensure that, wherever possible, the same rules and laws will apply the day after exit as they did before. The Government is still making a detailed assessment of what corrections will be required to make that law function appropriately on exit day. The Department for Exiting the European Union are working closely with departments across Government to ensure we make the changes required to deliver a functioning statute book on exit in the most efficient manner possible.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport: Brexit

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate her Department has made of the proportion of the Civil Service workforce in her Department dedicated to planning for (a) the UK leaving the EU and (b) projects relating to the UK leaving the EU.

Matt Hancock: Staff within the DCMS EU Team lead on providing advice to Ministers on EU Exit and related issues. Members of staff across the Department also provide advice and analyses on EU Exit issues as required. Given the interactions between EU exit work and the Department's other priorities, it would not be possible to give an accurate figure.

Broadband

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many premises in each parliamentary constituency in the UK have taken up a superfast broadband connection.

Matt Hancock: We do not hold information on superfast broadband take-up percentage by constituency.

Data Protection: EU Law

Darren Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what (a) oversight and (b) powers the Government will have in relation to guidance issued by the Information Commissioner on the application of the General Data Protection Regulation.

Matt Hancock: The Data Protection Bill will require the Information Commissioner to prepare statutory data sharing and direct marketing codes of practice. The Commissioner will be required to submit these codes to the Secretary of State and the codes must subsequently be laid before Parliament for consideration. The Secretary of State may also require the Commissioner to prepare additional codes giving guidance on good practice in other data processing areas. Through regular dialogue, the government will work with the Commissioner to identify other data processing activities and sectors where non-statutory guidance would be of benefit and should be developed.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport: EU Law

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what her Department's estimate is of the amount of EU legislation and regulation that can be incorporated into UK law without amendment.

Matt Hancock: The European Union (Withdrawal) Bill will convert European Union law into UK law as it applies in the UK at the moment of exit. This will ensure that, wherever possible, the same rules and laws will apply the day after exit as they did before. The Government is still making a detailed assessment of what corrections will be required to make that law function appropriately on exit day. The Department for Exiting the European Union are working closely with departments across Government to ensure we make the changes required to deliver a functioning statute book on exit in the most efficient manner possible.

Sports: Finance

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how much funding from the public purse has been allocated to non-Olympic sport in each year since 2012.

Tracey Crouch: Between 2012 and 2017 the government, through Sport England has invested £1,062,857,035 from Lottery funding and £431,228,823 from Exchequer funding in non-olympic sport. For further information on this and the processes by which funding and allocation decisions are taken please refer to both Sport England’s website: https://www.sportengland.org/funding/our-investments-explained/investments-weve-made/

Football: Disability

Ian C. Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the compliance by Premier League football clubs with regulations to facilitate access to their grounds for disabled people.

Tracey Crouch: I expect all sports and all clubs to take the necessary action to fulfil their legal obligations under the Equality Act of 2010 so that disabled people are not placed at a substantial disadvantage when accessing sports venues. We are expecting a final report from the Premier League this autumn on whether clubs have met their pledge to meet a number of agreed measures to improve accessibility for disabled spectators. The measures include all clubs to achieve compliance with the Accessible Stadia guide by August 2017, and for all clubs to ensure the appropriate number of wheelchair bays are located in their away sections (10% of their home provision).The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is the body responsible for enforcing the Equality Act 2010. Following the EHRC's call for evidence from Premier League clubs to assess their adherence to the terms of the Equality Act, if the EHRC suspect or believe that individual clubs are in breach of the 2010 Act, they will consider the use of their statutory powers in order to achieve compliance. All clubs failing to meet the minimum requirements were given a deadline of September to publish their plan of action and timetable for improvement or face an investigation. I support the EHRC's work to enforce the legislation and improve access for disabled people to sports grounds.

Openreach

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what information her Department holds on the number of complaints which Ofcom has received on BT Openreach in (a) 2015, (b) 2016 and (c) 2017 to date.

Matt Hancock: We do not hold this information; however Ofcom’s quarterly complaints data are available here: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/research-and-data/multi-sector-research/telecoms-complaints-data

Openreach

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what plans the Government has to improve BT Openreach's customer accountability; and if she will make a statement.

Matt Hancock: Openreach is accountable to its wholesale customers (the communications providers, such as Sky and TalkTalk), who in turn are accountable to their retail customers (individual consumers and businesses).Ofcom has worked to improve Openreach’s accountability by:Imposing service quality rules that require Openreach to deliver faster line repairs and installations for telephone and broadband customers; andIt has announced proposals to introduce automatic compensation to be paid by communications providers to their customers when they suffer quality of service problems including delayed repairs, delayed provisions and missed appointments.In March this year, we agreed the legal separation of Openreach from BT, which is in part aimed at making Openreach more responsive to its wholesale customers" rest of answer remains the same.

Department of Health

Nurses

Matt Warman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many nurses were working on NHS wards in (a) May 2010 and (b) September 2017.

Mr Philip Dunne: NHS Digital publishes workforce statistics and the following table shows the number of full time equivalent (FTE) nurses and health visitors working on National Health Service wards in May 2010 and June 2017. Data is not available for September 2017; however the latest available data has been provided which is June 2017. Nurses working on NHS wards are defined as acute, elderly and general nurses. NHS Hospital and Community Health Services: Nurses and health visitors on NHS wards as at 31 May 2010 and 30 June 2017. FTEMay - 2010June - 2017Nurses162,565173,917

Vegetables: Consumption

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to increase vegetable consumption.

Steve Brine: The Chief Medical Officer recommends eating plenty of fruit and vegetables as part of a healthy balanced diet. The national food model the Eatwell Guide, provides a visual representation of the types and proportions of the foods needed for a healthy, balanced diet, and depicts a diet rich in fruit and vegetables. The Government’s 5 A DAY campaign which specifically promotes fruit and vegetable consumption and the 5 A DAY message is embedded in the Eatwell Guide. It is communicated alongside other healthy eating advice through, for example the Change4Life campaign, the One You campaign and the NHS Choices website. In addition the Department runs two schemes which contribute towards increasing vegetable consumption: - Healthy Start which offers support to (largely unemployed) pregnant women and children under four in families receiving one or more of the qualifying benefits and tax credits. The Healthy Start vouchers can be used for purchasing fruit and vegetables as well as milk; and- The School Fruit and Vegetable scheme ensures all children in Key Stage 1, regardless of socio-economic background, receive a piece of fruit or vegetable every day.

HIV Infection: Clinical Trials

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment he has made of the potential of pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV to help end the transmission of HIV among at-risk populations.

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to NHS and Public Health England HIV PrEP impact trial, what steps his Department is taking to (a) manage demand to participate in the trial and (b) ensure that no one at risk of HIV is excluded from accessing this treatment.

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the NHS and Public Health England HIV PrEP impact trial, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the revised start date for the trial is not missed.

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the NHS and Public Health England HIV PrEP impact trial, what assessment he has made of the reasons why the target trial start date of September 2017 was not met.

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the NHS and Public Health England HIV PrEP impact trial, what steps he is taking to ensure that people in areas that are not included in that trial can access this treatment.

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the NHS and Public Health England HIV PrEP impact trial, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that some trial places are reserved for under-represented groups.

Steve Brine: NHS England will enrol 10,000 participants over three years at clinics across the country in the pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) IMPACT trial. The trial will provide data on implementation of PrEP and its impact on HIV transmission among high-risk groups, not those at any risk. Individuals for enrolment to the trial will be assessed against inclusion and exclusion criteria in order to target those at high risk of getting HIV and therefore most likely to benefit. National Health Service funded access to PrEP drugs is only available through the IMPACT trial. NHS England and Public Health England have been actively supporting the PrEP IMPACT trial sponsor in accelerating ethical approval and trial site recruitment. It was not possible to complete all the necessary steps to achieve a September 2017 start because of the large number of trial sites. Trial sites have to assure the trial co-ordination centre has ethical approval, drug procurement, trial site feasibility assessments, trial site training, local commissioner approval and local research governance approval in place before permission to recruit is given. This is dependent on local processes and is variable. Trial opening dates will be staggered to reflect this. The first clinics began be enrolling patients in October and a number of clinics will be opening within weeks of each other, both in and outside London. The trial sponsor anticipates that up to 70 sites will be enrolling patients by the end of November. All clinics should be enrolling patients by April 2018. As the largest single study of its type in the world, the PrEP trial is complex, involving well in excess of 100 organisations ranging from sexual health clinics, local authority commissioners, research bodies, and a drug manufacturer. The aim is to ensure multiple clinics across the country can provide geographical access and avoid surges to individual clinics. As trial sites open, information will be uploaded to the trial website enabling individuals who wish to participate in the trial to identify their nearest local clinic. Of the 10,000 trial places, an initial 2,000 places are being reserved for groups at high HIV risk other than gay men. The trial co-ordinating team will monitor PrEP uptake and keep this initial ring-fence under review. Further information on the trial can be found at the following link: https://www.prepimpacttrial.org.uk/

Department of Health: Brexit

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of the Civil Service workforce in his Department dedicated to planning for (a) the UK leaving the EU and (b) projects relating to the UK leaving the EU.

Mr Philip Dunne: European Union Exit is an all-of-government operation. The Department for Exiting the European Union is doing detailed work with departments to prepare for the upcoming negotiations by understanding the risks and opportunities of leaving the EU and coordinating planning. A central team within the Global and Public Health Directorate coordinates the provision of advice to Ministers on EU Exit and exit-related issues. All affected policy teams within the Department are involved with this work and they are assessing the implications of the United Kingdom leaving the EU on their policy area. Given the interactions between EU exit work and the Department’s other priorities, it would not be possible to give an accurate figure.

Eating Disorders

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people in the UK have an eating disorder.

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much the NHS has spent on treating severe eating disorders in each of the last five years.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The information requested, about numbers of people with eating disorders in England and overall expenditure for severe eating disorder services, is not collected centrally. NHS England is investing £150 million over 2016/17 to 2020/21 to develop eating disorder services in England.

Prisons: Health Services

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 18 September 2017 to Question 10277, if he will place in the Library a copy of the recent report on prison health staff commissioned by NHS England.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The report referred to in my previous answer has not yet been published.

NHS: Innovation

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether the six technologies undergoing Commissioning through Evaluation for which a positive commissioning policy is developed will be (a) required to be assessed by the Clinical Priorities Advisory Group for funding and (b) funded through the Innovation and Technology Payment.

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the cost of funding the six procedures undergoing Commissioning through Evaluation while they are in the assessment phase.

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department has made funds available to the six procedures undergoing Commissioning through Evaluation to be used when a formal commissioning policy for them is in place.

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what advice his Department provides for clinicians who are managing patients who require a technology undergoing the Commissioning through Evaluation programme.

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the number of patients unable to access procedures which are in the assessment phase of the Commissioning through Evaluation programme.

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the timetable is for the Commissioning through Evaluation process for (a) Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy, (b) Selective Internal Radiation Therapy, (c) Percutaneuous Mitral Valve Leaflet Repair, (d) Patent Foramen Ovale Closure, (e) Left Atrial Appendage Occlusion and (f) Stereotactic Ablative Radiotherapy.

Steve Brine: NHS England’s Commissioning through Evaluation (CtE) programme provides the opportunity for a limited number of treatments which show promise, but where there is currently insufficient evidence to take a routine commissioning decision, to gain ‘real world’ evidence as part of a formal evaluation programme. The six procedures undergoing Commissioning through Evaluation are: - Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy (SDR); - Selective Internal Radiation Therapy (SIRT); - Mitraclip™ ; - Patent Foramen Ovale (PFO) Closure; - Left Atrial Appendage Occlusion (LAAO); and - Stereotactic Ablative Body Radiotherapy (SABR). NHS England has not made an assessment of the cost of continuing to fund the treatments currently in the CtE programme once recruitment has closed as, until the evaluation is complete, the clinical commissioning policy to ‘not routinely commission’ remains in place. However, NHS England recognises the importance of minimising the gap between a CtE scheme closing to new recruits, the updating of its clinical commissioning policy in light of the new evidence and taking final funding decisions. Similarly, given that treatments that have entered the CTE programme for evaluative purposes are currently covered by a 'not routinely commissioned' clinical policy, no formal assessment has been made of the number of patients who might have accessed this treatment had a 'routinely commissioned’ policy been in place at the point the scheme completed recruitment. Through the collection and evaluation of data, NHS England is better able to reconsider its clinical commissioning policy for these treatments. Where the evidence generated by the scheme supports a routine commissioning recommendation, final funding decisions are taken in line with NHS England’s published Service Development Policy. This could result in the policy being entered into NHS England’s biannual clinical prioritisation process for funding or, if the relevant criteria are met, being introduced as an ‘in year service development’. Both these routes are supported by advice from NHS England’s Clinical Priorities Advisory Group. Entry into the CtE programme does not, therefore, signal the start of routine commissioning. Rather, it is a mechanism for generating clinical evidence for innovative new treatments, which are often experimental, that would not normally be selected for National Institute for Health Research funded research. NHS England supports clinicians who might consider a treatment that is not currently routinely funded by the National Health Service due to insufficient evidence of clinical and / or cost effectiveness and is covered by a time limited CtE scheme. This includes ethics approval where appropriate (for example in the handling of evaluative data), scheme-specific patient information leaflets and formal consenting arrangements so that patients are aware in advance about the questions remaining about the treatment’s effectiveness. Clinicians will be able to guide patients and their families through any available routinely funded NHS treatment options alongside any potentially accessible via the CtE programme. The timetable for the completion of evaluation reports takes into account the patient follow up period specific to each scheme. For example, the scheme may require data to be submitted at one and two years post treatment to assess whether clinical improvements achieved by a procedure are maintained over a given time period. The timetable for the six procedures undergoing CtE (which includes issues like access to treatment) are: - SDR – The National Institute for Health Care and Excellence (NICE) evaluation report expected to be available for publication September 2018; - SIRT - NICE evaluation report published October 2017. A review of the clinical commissioning policy is already underway and will be informed by the NICE evaluation report; - Mitraclip™ - NICE evaluation report expected to be available for publication in March 2018; - PFO Closure - Patient recruitment completed March 2016. NICE evaluation report expected to be available for publication November 2017. A review of the clinical commissioning policy is already underway and will be informed by the NICE evaluation report once published; - LAAO - NICE evaluation report expected to be available for publication November 2017. A review of the clinical commissioning policy is already underway and will be informed by the NICE evaluation report once published; and - SABR – Patient recruitment planned to be completed March 2019. NICE evaluation report expected to be available thereafter.

Health Services: Foreign Nationals

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what consultation his Department undertook before introducing up-front charging for the NHS care of non-British citizens.

Mr Philip Dunne: Following a detailed public consultation that ran from December 2015 to March 2016, the Government set out in its response to that consultation in February 2017 that it intended to amend the existing Charging Regulations. The Government also set out in the response its intention to require up-front charging in respect of non-urgent treatment. This commitment did not constitute a change in policy since existing published guidance has always stated that National Health Service providers should identify and charge patients not eligible for free NHS care upfront, for any care deemed not urgent or immediately necessary by a clinician. Both before and after the consultation response was published, the Department’s Overseas Visitor and Migrant NHS Cost Recovery Programme has been working extensively with the frontline to support adherence to the guidance.

Hospitals: Repairs and Maintenance

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what information his Department holds on the number of hospitals which have had a leak to the roof in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available.

Mr Philip Dunne: The information requested is not collected centrally.

Fentanyl

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, for what reasons fentanyl has been classified as a low priority for funding.

Steve Brine: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recommended that Immediate Release (IR) Fentanyl should not be offered as a first-line fast acting pain relief and NHS England’s clinical working group considered that the current high prescribing volumes were not justified given the small number of patients for whom IR fentanyl would be appropriate, namely those suffering from cancer. The clinical working group considered therefore that more cost effective products were available for those patients being prescribed the drug who were not cancer patients. Their guidance does not class IR Fentanyl as a low priority for funding. It clarifies the circumstances in which it should be prescribed. However, where there is an absence of final guidance recommendations from NICE, decisions on the funding of a licensed treatment on the National Health Service are taken by the relevant clinician and commissioner (such as NHS England or individual clinical commissioning groups) based on the individual needs of the patient.

Hospitals: Pest Control

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many hospitals reported infestations of rats and mice in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available.

Mr Philip Dunne: The information requested is not collected centrally. It is for individual National Health Service hospitals to make their own arrangements to deal with, or otherwise ensure the prevention of, pest infestations.

Hospitals: Food

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the average cost is of preparing and serving a meal in NHS hospitals.

Mr Philip Dunne: The information is not available in the format requested. The Department collects data from National Health Service trusts for the average total daily cost for the provision of all meals and beverages fed to one patient per day; not the cost of a single meal. The average cost of feeding one in-patient per day is £11.05. The cost is inclusive of all pay and non-pay costs, including provisions, ward issues, disposables, equipment and its maintenance.

Doctors: Recruitment

Thelma Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, (a) how many doctors who began work with the NHS in each of the last seven years and (b) what proportion of all NHS doctors are from other EU member states.

Thelma Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, (a) how many nurses who began work with the NHS in each of the last seven years and (b) what proportion of all NHS nurses are from other other EU member states.

Mr Philip Dunne: The below table shows details of doctor and nurse joiners to the National Health Service trusts and clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) in England taken from the NHS Digital Hospital and Community Health Services (HCHS) workforce statistics. NHS HCHS: HCHS doctor and nurse joiners to NHS trusts and CCGs in England, between June in each specified year, 2010 to 2017, headcount NursesDoctorsJune 2010 to June 201125,71315,877June 2011 to June 201224,96516,133June 2012 to June 201329,84616,581June 2013 to June 201433,47317,748June 2014 to June 201532,69318,024June 2015 to June 201634,73317,995June 2016 to June 201732,37519,252Source: NHS Digital, NHS HCHS workforce statistics.NHS Digital publishes workforce statistics and the latest data at 30 June 2017 shows that 9.3% of doctors report their nationality as non-United Kingdom, European Union and 6.8% of nurses report their nationality as non-UK, EU.

In Vitro Fertilisation

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many women in the UK have had IVF treatment in each of the last five years; how many of those treatments have been successful; and how many such women have had repeat treatments.

Mr Philip Dunne: The information requested is shown in the following table: Year of treatmentIndividual patients1Number of treatments2Number of birthsIndividual mothers who go on to further treatments (in any subsequent year)3201145,80260,57214,8694,207201245,61760,23315,3434,079201347,13361,84416,4413,073201448,62663,53717,4791,194201528,470431,69748,7704635 Notes:1The count of patients is of individual patients undergoing treatment in each year. A patient will be counted once for each year in which they are treated. 2The figures given are for in vitro fertilisation treatments, including intracytoplasmic sperm injection treatments. 3Further treatment is defined as any treatment that took place following the “Year of treatment” listed in the table until 30 June 2016, the end of the current verified data period.42015 data on patients, treatments and births only covers the period up until 30 June 2015 as this is the most recent date for which there is verified data on treatment outcomes. 5As the period in which further treatments can take place decreases each successive year toward the end of the current verified data period (30 June 2016), the number of mothers who have gone on to have further treatments is, consequently, smaller year on subsequent year. Source: The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority

Strokes: Medical Equipment

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when the Butterfly Health Device Mobius HD to prevent strokes will be available on the NHS.

Steve Brine: According to the available information the product is currently undergoing clinical trials to determine safety and performance. We understand that so far there has just been one study in humans, a proof of concept study on 30 patients.Once these trials have been completed and the manufacturer is able to meet all the other requirements of the medical device directives, they may use the “CE” mark on their product as a medical device. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency is not in a position to advise how long this process will take, as this will be dependent on the manufacturers’ data and their ability to meet the requirements of the relevant regulations.Before treatments can be made available for patients careful assessments of the evidence for clinical effectiveness and cost effectiveness are needed in order to ensure that the treatment will give patients benefit in clinical practice, with acceptable risk and within established cost effectiveness thresholds. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) will normally review such treatments and make a recommendation on whether they should be used in the National Health Service, by publishing a Technology Appraisal. Commissioners will not usually develop a commissioning policy on treatments in advance of NICE Technology Appraisal.Although stroke is one of a number of potential complications associated with untreated hypertension, the manufacturer of this device states it is intended to be used to treat resistant hypertension (hypertension which does not respond to drug treatment) and not for stroke prevention.

Blood: Contamination

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people have been infected with (a) hepatitis and (b) HIV by blood transfusions in each of the last five years.

Jackie Doyle-Price: There were no reports of HIV or hepatitis C transfusion transmissions between 2012 and 2016. There was one hepatitis B transmission reported and confirmed in 2012 affecting one recipient. Transfusion-transmitted infections of hepatitis E (HEV) reported to the blood services and confirmed between 2012 and 2016 are as follows: 2012: 1 HEV case (1 recipient)2013: no reports2014: 2 HEV incidents (3 recipients)2015: 2 HEV incidents (3 recipients)2016: 3 HEV incidents ( 3 recipients) All HEV donations associated with transfusion transmitted infections were donated prior to the introduction of universal HEV screening of blood donations in 2017. Further information can be found at the Serious Hazards of Transfusion Website:https://www.shotuk.org/

Acupuncture

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will outline the process within the NHS for patient referrals to an acupuncturist.

Steve Brine: National Health Service processes to refer patients to an acupuncturist will be determined locally.It is the responsibility of local NHS organisations to make decisions on the commissioning and funding of any health care treatments for NHS patients, such as acupuncture, taking account of issues to do with safety, clinical and cost-effectiveness and the availability of suitably qualified or regulated practitioners.

Skin Grafting

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when the new scheme for helping to heal skin grafts after surgery will be available on the NHS.

Mr Philip Dunne: It is for local National Health Service commissioners to make decisions on whether to fund new treatments, taking into account National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance, available evidence and individual patient’s clinical circumstances. The future availability of any new treatments generally requires large scale clinical trials demonstrating the safety and efficacy of the treatment approach and subsequent assessments of its cost effectiveness for routine use.

Autism: Diagnosis

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress the working group on the time taken for autism to be diagnosed has made to date.

Jackie Doyle-Price: There is no formal working group currently looking specifically at the time taken for an autism diagnosis to be made. Information on current waiting times for an autism assessment is drawn from the Public Health England report of the 2016 Self-Assessment Framework exercise. The Department continues to work with its partners to address long waiting times for an autism diagnosis. This includes work to ensure the inclusion of autism diagnosis and outcomes indicators in the Mental Health Services Dataset, with new robust data collected from 1 April 2018. This will bring more transparency and help to drive up performance on waiting times.

Plastic Surgery: Heart Diseases

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to investigate the connection between breast implants and heart problems.

Steve Brine: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency is not currently conducting any regulatory activity concerning heart, or other cardiovascular disease, in respect of these medical devices. No reports of adverse events related to these devices and the diagnosis of cardiac or other cardiovascular disease have been received. The Agency is not aware of any concerns being voiced by the patients or healthcare professionals; or of action being undertaken by any other regulator either in the European Union or worldwide. The Agency is aware of recent media coverage of a very small study regarding the interpretation of electrocardiographs in women who have breast implants. We will continue to monitor the situation and will take action if necessary. We encourage anyone who suspects they have had a complication after having a medical device implanted to discuss this with their clinician and report to us via the Yellow Card scheme regardless of how long ago the implant was inserted.

Mental Health Act 1983

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the timetable is for the review of the Mental Health Act 1983.

Jackie Doyle-Price: My Rt. hon. Friend the Prime Minister announced an independent review of mental health legislation and practice to tackle the issue of mental health detention on 4 October 2017. Following consultation with stakeholders, the Chair of the independent review, Professor Sir Simon Wessely, will produce an interim report identifying priorities for the review’s work in early 2018, and develop a final report containing detailed recommendations on its priorities, by autumn 2018. Terms of reference for the review can be viewed at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mental-health-act-independent-review

Transplant Surgery: Stem Cells

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he plans to take to improve the level of practical support, including help at home or to getting back to work, offered to patients after a stem cell transplant.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The impact of cancer continues beyond the initial treatment. Patients may experience physical, financial, social and psychological issues. NHS England’s work in supporting the roll out of the Recovery Package for cancer patients, including those who received blood and marrow transplants, helps ensure patients have more personal care and support from the point they are diagnosed and once treatment ends. For patients this means working with their care team to develop a comprehensive plan outlining not only their physical needs, but also other support they may need, such as help at home or financial advice. By 2020 NHS England wants all cancer patients to have access to the Recovery Package and is committed to implementing this in collaboration with charities, professionals and patients themselves.

Blood: Contamination

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of progress on the Government's plans to provide justice to those affected by contaminated blood products.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Government is consulting on the scope, format and sponsorship of the inquiry into contaminated blood until 18 October 2017. The Government will provide a further update to the House after the consultation closes.

NHS: Finance

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what ministerial oversight there is of the capped expenditure process.

Mr Philip Dunne: The National Health Service has set out its own plan to maximise spending within funding limits, and deliver financial balance and sustainability. The capped expenditure process is a key part of that plan and will help all areas to deliver quality, safe and improving patient care within a financially sustainable system. Ministerial oversight is embedded in the governance mechanisms already in place to support and hold to account the NHS leadership bodies for delivery of their overall financial plan.

In Vitro Fertilisation

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many clinical commissioning groups have decommissioned IVF services entirely in the last five years.

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Answer of 30 January 2017 to Question 61799, on IVF pricing, what discussions he has had with NHS England and stakeholder groups on the development of a benchmark price for IVF.

Mr Philip Dunne: This information is not collected centrally. Officials from the Department attend the IVF Expert Advisory Group, which oversees the work being taken forward by NHS England. This group met on 11 November 2016, 3 March 2017 and 22 June 2017. It is scheduled to meet on 31 October 2017. I am scheduled to meet representatives from Fertility Fairness shortly to discuss issues in the sector.

Refugees: Mental Illness

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment his Department has made of the prevalence of mental health conditions within the refugee community, particularly among children.

Jackie Doyle-Price: We do not currently hold information regarding the prevalence of mental health problems amongst children or other people in the refugee community.

Cosmetic Surgery: Regulation

Bambos Charalambous: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that all surgeons offering cosmetic procedures in the private sector are certified by the Royal College of Surgeons.

Mr Philip Dunne: The Government is committed to the effective regulation of those performing cosmetic procedures. Following Sir Bruce Keogh’s review of the regulation of cosmetic interventions, the Royal College of Surgeons has published a set of professional standards for cosmetic surgery and has launched a new certification scheme. This allows patients to search for a surgeon, including those in the private sector, who has appropriate training, qualifications and experience to perform the procedure they are considering.

Clinical Commissioning Groups

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much each clinical commissioning group was estimated to be (a) overspending or (b) underspending over on underspending prior to the introduction of the capped expenditure process.

Mr Philip Dunne: The National Health Service has set out its own plan to maximise spending within funding limits, and deliver financial balance and sustainability. As set out in the Spending Review 2015, NHS funding will increase by £8 billion in real terms by 2020-21, compared to 2015-16. In this year alone, real terms NHS funding is £1.7 billion higher than last year and £5 billion higher than it was in 2015-16.As with all public services, local NHS areas need to live within the budget agreed – otherwise they effectively take up resources that could be spent on general practitioners, mental health care, and cancer treatment. As part of their financial planning, NHS England and NHS Improvement have been running a process to look at how a small number of areas could do more to balance their financial plans, as many already have.It is important that these plans are consistent with constitutional standards on waiting times and patient choice. It is right that the NHS should consider efficiency savings such as reducing delayed transfers of care, or reducing running costs – because this improves patient care overall.

Cosmetic Surgery: Regulation

Bambos Charalambous: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to (a) protect the safety of patients seeking invasive non-surgical cosmetic procedures and (b) ensure that all practitioners offering such procedures are appropriately qualified.

Bambos Charalambous: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of voluntary schemes for the registration and certification of practitioners offering cosmetic procedures to patients on the safety of such treatments.

Mr Philip Dunne: The General Medical Council has introduced new guidance which sets out the standards for doctors carrying out cosmetic procedures. The guidance applies to all doctors who carry out both surgical and non-surgical procedures. The guidance says doctors must advertise and market services responsibly; give patients time for reflection; seek a patient’s consent themselves, not delegate it; provide continuity of care and support patient safety by making full and accurate records of consultations and contributing to programmes to monitor quality and outcomes, including registers for devices such as breast implants. The Government recommends that anyone considering accessing cosmetic interventions, chooses a registered health professional or someone who is registered with an accredited voluntary register (AVR). A number of AVRs for practitioners preforming cosmetic interventions are already established. Using a practitioner registered with an AVR provides assurance that the practitioner is appropriately qualified, registered and insured. On 13 September 2017 I laid new regulations in parliament to impose a duty on the Care Qualtiy Commission to rate and assess the performance of providers of surgical procedures for cosmetic purposes where the procedure requires intravenous sedation, general anaesthesia or the insertion of an implant. These regulations are due to come into force on 31 October.

Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: Prescriptions

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if his Department will review the list of conditions exempt from prescription charges to include systemic lupus erythematosus.

Steve Brine: The Department currently has no plans to change the list of medical conditions which provide for exemption from prescription charges because arrangements exist to ensure that prescriptions are affordable for everyone. A broad range of prescription charge exemptions are in place for those on low incomes or receiving benefits, for which someone with a long-term condition may qualify. To support those with greatest need who do not qualify for an exemption, prescription prepayment certificates are available. A holder of a 12 month certificate can get all the prescriptions they need for just £2 per week.

Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: Greater London

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people in (a) Camberwell and Peckham constituency and (b) the London Borough of Southwark had systemic lupus erythematosus in each of the last five years.

Steve Brine: This data is not collected.

Meningitis: Vaccination

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment his Department has made of the case for the NHS vaccinating all teenagers for meningitis B.

Steve Brine: The United Kingdom programme is aimed at protecting infants against meningococcal B infection as the incidence of disease is greatest in this age group. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), which is the expert committee that advises the Government on vaccination and immunisation, has requested further research to reduce the uncertainty and provide a greater level of confidence on whether a vaccination programme for adolescents would be cost effective. Specifically, the JCVI have requested a study of the effect of MenB vaccination on the carriage of meningococcal strains in adolescents. An open competition process has been carried out and completed to commission this work which the selected research team could potentially begin by the end of 2017.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Energy: Standards

Michelle Donelan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans he has in place to monitor and review the benefits of the minimum energy standards post-implementation in 2018; and what assessment his Department has made of the scope for strengthening those plans.

Claire Perry: The Energy Efficiency (Private Rented Property)(England and Wales) Regulations 2015 require that all landlords of domestic (and non-domestic) privately rented properties in England and Wales ensure that, from 1 April 2018, their properties reach at least an energy performance rating of E before granting a tenancy to new or existing tenants, unless a prescribed exemption applies.The regulations require Government to carry out a review of the operation and effect of these Regulations at intervals of no more than 5 years, and we are currently putting in place a programme of qualitative and quantitative research to inform this. Evidence collected will be used to determine the scope and timing of an assessment of the benefits from the regulations, and to help ensure they are implemented as effectively as possible.

Energy: Business

Gill Furniss: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what his policy is on establishing an industrial energy efficiency scheme to help large companies install measures to reduce their energy use and bills.

Claire Perry: Holding answer received on 11 October 2017



The Clean Growth strategy, which the Department published on 12th October, reiterated the Government’s objective to protect UK companies against high energy costs. It also confirmed the manifesto commitment to establish an Industrial Energy Efficiency Scheme to help companies cut their energy use and bills, which would support this. The Department is considering options for such a scheme. We will provide more details by the end of the year.

Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what notice period his Department gave to the industry before the Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme and Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2017 came into force.

Claire Perry: The Department announced these changes in a response to consultation published on 16 December 2016. The Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2017 were laid on 30 August 2017 and came into force on 20 September 2017.

Energy: Carbon Emissions

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he has taken to maximise take-up from low-carbon energy sources.

Richard Harrington: The UK has led the world in introducing legally binding Carbon Budgets and we have out-performed our first budget to 2012 by 1 per cent and are on track to over-achieve the second and third Budgets by almost 5 and 4 per cent respectively. Since 1990, we have cut emissions by more than 40 per cent while our economy has grown by two thirds. On a per person basis, this means that we have reduced emissions faster than any other G7 nation.We also generating much more of our power from clean sources and are on track to deliver 35 per cent of generation from renewables by 2020-21 - exceeding our ambition of 30 per cent.Renewables have an important role to play in decarbonising energy use in many end use sectors. On 7 June 2017 renewable energy met more than 50 per cent of the power demand, generating more than both gas and coal combined. A record 26% of renewable electricity generated in the 12 months to September 2016 came from renewables.In the second Contracts for Difference round we have secured 3.3GW of renewable electricity, enough to power 3.6 million homes. The results were announced on 11 September 2017 and show that the UK is an attractive place to invest with a record amount of renewable capacity secured to power our homes and a significant reduction in the cost of supporting the development of offshore wind farms. Competition has driven offshore wind costs over 50% lower than the first auction in 2015. We are maintaining our position as a global leader in offshore wind in support of a modern industrial strategy securing 3.2GW of new offshore wind capacity.As a result of the Second Round Allocation results we will see a saving of 5.4 million tonnes of carbon a year, the equivalent of average annual carbon emissions from 2.8 million cars.The Department has an active programme of action to remove barriers to uptake and promote take up of low carbon heat, as well as taking action on energy efficiency to reduce demand for heat.This includes encouraging households and businesses to install renewable heat systems like biomass boilers and electric heat pumps through the Renewable Heat Incentive scheme (RHI). The RHI is designed to bridge the gap between the cost of fossil fuel heat sources and renewable heat alternatives. To date the scheme has supported the deployment of over 60,000 domestic and 17,000 non-domestic renewable heat installations.The Department has allocated £320m of funding to support investment in heat networks over the next five years, leveraging over £1bn of private and local capital investment and helping to create a sustainable market for low carbon heat networks in the 2020s.The Department is working with major industrial sectors to set out short term collaborative actions on decarbonisation.

Private Sector: EU Law

Stephen Gethins: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the position paper, Continuity in the availability of goods for the EU and the UK: Position Paper, published on 21 August 2017, whether it is his policy that EU compliance responsible persons in UK private sector companies must be EU-based; and what assessment his Department has made on the effect of such a policy on employment levels.

Margot James: The future relationship between the UK and the EU in respect to compliance activities is a matter for future negotiations. It would not be appropriate to pre-judge the outcome of those negotiations.

Energy: Housing

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the number of fuel-poor homes which are insulated below Energy Performance Certificate Band C in each year since 2010; and if he will make a statement.

Claire Perry: Holding answer received on 12 October 2017



The number of fuel poor households which have an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) below Band C can be seen in the table below: Band F/GBand EBand DTotal Below Band C Number of fuel poor households (000’s)Proportion of all in this Band that are fuel poor (%)Number of fuel poor households (000’s)Proportion of all in this Band that are fuel poor (%)Number of fuel poor households (000’s)Proportion of all in this Band that are fuel poor (%)Number of fuel poor households (000’s)Proportion of all in this Band that are fuel poor (%)2010531251,2272069472,452132011447241,1462077272,365132012348231,0152089382,25613201331323875201,05592,24313201428724758201,199102,24413201527827736201,337122,35115 The most recent official statistics are for the year 2015. The data above is from the fuel poverty national statistics publication which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fuel-poverty-trends-2017Since April 2017, the Energy Company Obligation has been 70% focussed on low income households. The scheme will improve the energy efficiency of over 300,000 homes per year. Combined with rebates of £140 for over 2 million low income households through the Warm Home Discount, this will be over £770m of support in 2017/18.

Small Businesses: Technology

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what support his Department provides to small businesses for the adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies.

Claire Perry: Holding answer received on 12 October 2017



Through the Industrial Strategy, we are working with UK industry to support small businesses to flourish and grow across the UK. Alongside the government’s Digital Strategy it will provide the conditions to ensure the UK is the best place to start and grow a digital business, trial a new technology, or undertake advanced research.We are providing support to innovate and adopt through the UK’s R&D Tax Credits scheme: in 2014/15 a total of 20,935 companies, of which over 18,000 were SMEs, claimed £2.45 billion of relief from £21.8 billion of R&D expenditure.Government has established a network of Catapult Centres to help business commercialise new and emerging technologies in areas where there are large global market opportunities and a critical mass of UK capability to take advantage. This includes the Digital and High Value Manufacturing catapults which are already providing support to business to develop and exploit Industry 4.0 technologies.Innovate UK funding is supporting development of Industry 4.0 technologies through its competitions. In its recent Manufacturing & Materials competition, Innovate UK has funded 4 projects, all lead by SMEs in the area of Digital Manufacturing, for a total of £2.25m. In addition, Innovate UK has just approved £180k to fund an extension of the Knowledge Transfer Network’s 4Manufacturing initiative until the end of March 2018, to enable manufacturing SMEs and their supply chains become more productive through the adoption of innovative Industry 4.0 technology.The Challenger Business Programme identifies the barriers to the growth of innovative businesses across the economy; and works collaboratively with businesses, regulators and other partners to remove these. The Programme has already worked directly with over 400 businesses and going forwards we will work with many more.We have asked Juergen Maier, as part of the Industrial Strategy, to conduct a review to conduct a review of Industrial Digitalisation with a strong focus on how UK SMEs can realise the benefits of Industry4.0 technologies. We look forward to the results of that review over the coming weeks.

Property: Ownership

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment he has made of the extent of offshore ownership of UK freeholds.

Margot James: In March 2016, HM Land Registry published, for free, information on registered land in England and Wales that was owned by overseas companies. Updates to this data set have been available at a charge and the datasets (both free and chargeable) are accessible at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/hm-land-registry-overseas-companies-data.As part of the government’s housing white paper, Fixing our broken housing market, HM Land Registry committed to become the world’s leading land registry for speed, simplicity and an open approach to data. This will include releasing later this year, free of charge, the updated overseas company ownership data set.This open approach to data will better support development, ensure financial stability, collection of taxes, law enforcement and the protection of national security.

Boilers

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what support is available for low income and vulnerable households whose gas boilers have been condemned to repair or replace those boilers.

Claire Perry: Holding answer received on 16 October 2017



The primary support relating to energy efficient measures for low income and vulnerable households is the Energy Company Obligation, which is worth £640m per year. In April 2017 we reformed the scheme, so that 70% of the support is directed at low income and vulnerable households. Gas boiler replacement and repair is permitted under the scheme. We expect around 37,000 boilers to be replaced under the existing scheme which runs to October 2018.The industry initiative element of the Warm Home Discount scheme allows obligated energy suppliers to work with third parties to offer energy and thermal efficiency measures to low income, fuel poor households. This includes repairing or replacing boilers where this can be shown to improve the efficiency of energy use in the consumer’s home.Consumers living in rented accommodation should contact their landlord in the first instance if they have problems with their heating system and many of the energy suppliers offer support through their duties to have a regard for vulnerable customers.

Heating: Housing

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what information his Department holds on how many households in (a) Barnsley, (b) Yorkshire and (c) the UK are without effective space heating or capacity to heat water.

Claire Perry: Holding answer received on 16 October 2017



The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy holds data on the physical characters of properties in England only, which has been collected and supplied by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG). The table below shows the number of households and proportion of households that do not have an effective heating system in place for space heating. Space heating Number of householdsProportionEngland520,8002%Yorkshire53,0002% An effective heating system here is considered as either a central heating system or storage heaters being fitted and present. Figures are not available for water heating as all heating systems are considered effective under this definition. Data is not available by Local Authority.Figures are based on the data behind the fuel poverty statistics which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fuel-poverty-detailed-tables-2017

Energy: Meters

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 5 September 2017 to Question 6169, on energy: meters, what estimate he has made of the average cost of installing 460,000 SMETS1 meters.

Richard Harrington: We do not have access to the detailed energy supplier information on these specific installations that would enable us to calculate the cost of this particular set of smart meters. However I can refer the hon. Member to the smart meter roll-out cost-benefit analysis technical annex (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/smart-meter-roll-out-gb-cost-benefit-analysis). This shows the estimated installation cost of smart meters of an electricity only installation is £67, gas only installation is £67 and a dual fuel installation is £107.

Iron and Steel: Energy

Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans he has to reduce energy costs for the British steel industry.

Claire Perry: The Government is fully aware of the importance of energy costs for the UK steel industry, and we are acting to keep them as low as possible. To date, the Government has paid over £190 million in compensation to the steel sector since 2013 to compensate for the cumulative impact of energy and climate change policies on industrial electricity prices.

Tata Steel: Pensions

Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to ensure that Tata Steel UK upholds the commitments contained in its memorandum of understanding with steel unions following changes to the British Steel pension scheme.

Claire Perry: The Government has been working hard with the unions to secure a sustainable future for Tata Steel UK 8,200 employees, including those at its Port Talbot primary steelmaking plant.Details of the joint venture process are still to be worked out. However Tata has said it will honour the commitments it made earlier this year. Indeed, following the Joint Venture agreement between Tata Steel Europe and Thyssenkrupp, announced on 19th September 2017, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy wrote a joint letter with the trade unions to Natarajan Chandrasekaran, Chair of Tata & Sons, to secure Tata’s assurance that together with their new partner they will continue to honour these commitments.We will continue to work closely with Tata Steel, Thyssenkrupp, the Welsh Government and Trade Unions to support the future of Tata Steel’s UK steel business.

Housing: Insulation

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the number of homes insulated at Energy Performance Certificate Band D or below in each year since 2010; and if he will make a statement.

Claire Perry: Holding answer received on 16 October 2017



The energy performance ratings of homes are influenced by a number of factors beyond insulation, including the heating system deployed.Since 2010 the number of homes in England rated EPC band D or below has fallen by 2.4 million.Table: Number of homes (000’s) in England rated EPC band D or below Number of homes (000’s)Percentage of homes201018,58886%201118,46584%201217,71481%201317,34777%201416,63074%201516,20872%Based on weighted English Housing Survey data Since 2013, around 2.3 million energy efficiency measures were installed in around 1.8 million properties in Great Britain through the Energy Company Obligation and under Green Deal related schemes to the end of July 2017. Around 1.5 million of these installed measures were insulation measures.

Renewable Energy

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to increase the amount of electricity generated from renewable sources.

Richard Harrington: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Cost of Energy Independent Review

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the document entitled Professor Dieter Helm - declaration of interest, published by his Department on 6 August 2017 in relation to the Cost of Energy Review, whether Professor Helm drafted that document.

Richard Harrington: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Cost of Energy Independent Review

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the document entitled Professor Dieter Helm - declaration of interest, published by his Department on 6 August 2017 in relation to the Cost of Energy Review, whether restrictions on Professor Helm's activities in relation to the Review were imposed by or agreed with his Department.

Richard Harrington: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Cost of Energy Independent Review

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the document entitled Professor Dieter Helm - declaration of interest, published by his Department on 6 August 2017 in relation to the Cost of Energy Review, whether that document is a declaration of interest by Professor Helm.

Richard Harrington: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Energy Intensive Industries

Gill Furniss: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans he has to discuss industrial decarbonisation and energy efficiency action plans with the leaders of the seven most energy intensive industries.

Claire Perry: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Ministry of Defence

Military Bases: Food

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the average cost is of preparing and serving a meal in Army barracks.

Harriett Baldwin: The daily cost of core meals for UK Service personnel is set by the Armed Forces Pay Review Body at £5.74 inclusive of Value Added Tax.The table below highlights the core meal price spent on produce and ingredients:  Breakfast Lunch Main Meal Total Food cost £1.20£1.62£1.97£4.79VAT @ 20% £0.24£0.32£0.39£0.95Total cost £1.44£1.94£2.36£5.74 The cost of the preparation and serving of food is included within the Ministry of Defence’s existing catering contracts. These costs are not separately identifiable.

HMS Ocean

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will retain HMS Ocean for the Royal Marines after 2018.

Harriett Baldwin: There are no plans to review the decision to decommission HMS OCEAN in 2018.

Military Aircraft: Procurement

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the commitments set out in the 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review, what the forecast value is of his Department's future orders for (a) P8 Maritime Patrol Aircraft and (b) Apache AH-64E helicopters.

Harriett Baldwin: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is procuring nine P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft under a Foreign Military Sale (FMS) arrangement with the US Government. Delivery of the first aircraft is expected in 2019. The estimated total cost is $3.2 billion. This figure includes the cost of the aircraft, and also encompasses initial support, training, sonobuoy and weapons provisioning, together with training devices.The MOD is also purchasing 50 Apache AH-64E helicopters, also under a FMS arrangement with the US Government at an estimated cost of $2.3 billion. This figure includes an initial two-year support package, spares, training simulators and other supporting equipment for the helicopters.

Bombardier: Belfast

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on the potential job losses at Bombardier in Belfast; and if he will make a statement.

Harriett Baldwin: The Secretary of State fully understands the importance of Bombardier to Northern Ireland and has been closely engaged on this matter, meeting with both the Secretaries of State for Northern Ireland and Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy in support the Government's approach.Alongside this and as part of the wider Government efforts, we have made it clear to Boeing that this is not the behaviour we would expect from a long-term strategic partner and we have also raised our concerns about potential impact on Northern Ireland with the US Administration.

Boeing

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department has paid to Boeing in each of the last five years.

Harriett Baldwin: Information on how much the Ministry of Defence has paid to Boeing in each of the last five years is provided below: YearValue* (million)2016-17£3482015-16£4932014-15£4882013-14£4992012-13£524*figures rounded to the nearest million   This information is also published in the Trade Industry & Contracts Statistical Bulletin, which can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/defence-trade-and-industry-index It is worth noting, however, these figures do not include the acquisition of Boeing capabilities made through Foreign Military Sales agreements with the US Government, such as the new AH-64E Apache Attack Helicopters and P-8 Poseidon Maritime Patrol Aircraft.

HMS Albion

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the recent refit cost of HMS Albion was.

Harriett Baldwin: The cost of the work on the last refit of HMS Albion was around £90 million.

Navy: Foreign Nationals

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many and what proportion of non-UK armed forces personnel are currently on active service in the Royal Navy.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: There were 560 (rounded to the nearest 10) non-UK nationality personnel in the Royal Navy and Royal Marines as at 1 April 2017. This represents 1.9% of the total trained strength.This statistical information is published in the UK Armed Forces Biannual Diversity Statistics (Table 5a) and can be found at:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/uk-armed-forces-biannual-diversity-statistics-2017

HMS Duncan: Belfast

Gavin Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the benefit to Belfast of its twinning with HMS Duncan.

Mark Lancaster: Affiliation allows society to have greater visibility and understanding of the Royal Navy that serves them. This was particularly the case for HMS DUNCAN in 2014 and 2016 when she visited Belfast, the latter being in company with the other vessels in the NATO Task Group.These visits also allow wider defence engagements and support to the community and charities. For example, the ship's company of HMS DUNCAN have conducted outreach activities with the local hospice and youth groups.In parallel with this, the ship's Commanding Officer maintains an on-going relationship with various affiliates in the region.

Warships

Gavin Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what criteria are used when twinning a naval vessel with a UK city; and for what purpose such twining is undertaken.

Mark Lancaster: UK cities, by nature of their population and diversity, provide an opportunity for the Royal Navy to form affiliations with large numbers of the society they protect, represent, and recruit from. All these are points that are considered as part of the affiliation process.

NATO: Littoral Warfare

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what commitments the UK has made to NATO which would require the use of amphibious capabilities.

Mark Lancaster: Allies voluntarily undertake to provide, individually or together, the forces and capabilities needed for NATO to fulfil its security and defence objectives. In accordance with NATO procedures, the deployment of any of these capabilities remains a sovereign decision that would be made on a case by case basis.

Department for Communities and Local Government

Department for Communities and Local Government: Advertising

Deidre  Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 21 September 2017 to Question 3402, on advertising, how much of that spend was (a) through Carat Ltd and (b) on the departmental procurement card.

Mr Marcus Jones: Government advertising is purchased by our media buying agency, Carat Ltd. Carat has held the contract for UK government media buying since January 2015. There has been no spend on the departmental procurement card.

National Holocaust Memorial Centre and Learning Service

Sir Edward Leigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, on what dates the Royal Parks agency was informed that Victoria Tower Gardens (a) was being considered and (b) had been chosen as a site for the Holocaust Memorial; and on what date the Royal Parks agency was informed that the Holocaust Learning Centre would also be located in those gardens.

Mr Marcus Jones: The Royal Parks was first consulted in December 2015 and they were advised of the decision to locate the Memorial in Victoria Tower Gardens in January 2016.The Royal Parks was subsequently consulted on locating the Learning Centre in Victoria Tower Gardens in May 2016.

National Holocaust Memorial Centre and Learning Service

Sir Edward Leigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate the Government has made of the annual cost of maintenance and security for the Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre in Victoria Tower Gardens after construction; and which organisation will bear those costs.

Mr Marcus Jones: The annual cost of maintenance and security will be determined by the full, detailed development of the Memorial and Learning Centre. The UK Holocaust Memorial Foundation (UKHMF) has engaged experts to help model these costs, which will be refined as the project progresses further. These costs will be borne from the overall UKHMF budget, which will be comprised of a mix of Government funding and private contributions. With cross-party support, the Government has committed £50 million to kick-start a society-wide fundraising effort.

War Memorials: Barnet

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with Barnet Council on ensuring that the war memorial that contains its Jewish history will not be moved due to proposed road works.

Mr Marcus Jones: My officials are in contact with Barnet Council about the proposed road works which could impact on the War memorial in Golders Green. The Council have reiterated that moving the memorial would not happen without proper consultation and have confirmed that there has been no consultation on anything specific about the site.

Local Government: Procurement

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what criteria local authorities must consider when deciding to purchase private land and properties.

Alok Sharma: Local authorities contemplating the use of their compulsory purchase powers to acquire land and properties should consider, amongst other things, whether there is a compelling case in the public interest for doing so. They should also take account of government's guidance on the compulsory purchase process, which was published in October 2015.The Local Government Act 1999 (Part 1, Section 3) requires an authority to carry out the functions designated to it in accordance with the ‘best value duty’. This requires that "A best value authority must make arrangements to secure continuous improvement in the way in which its functions are exercised, having regard to a combination of economy, efficiency and effectiveness”. The duty applies to the full range of an authority’s activities.Local authorities have the freedom to borrow and invest, including in land and property purchases, without government consent, provided that their borrowing is affordable. Control is exercised through four statutory codes that local authorities are required to have regard to, two prepared by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) and two prepared by DCLG. This framework is known as the “Prudential System”. We are currently working with CIPFA to revise the statutory codes and guidance and the intention is for these to be in place early in 2018.

Private Property: Repairs and Maintenance

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what guidance is available to local authorities on dealing with private properties in a state of disrepair that may cause structural damage to adjacent properties.

Alok Sharma: Local authorities have powers under sections 76 to 79 of the Building Act 1984 to require the owners of buildings in a dangerous state of disrepair to take such action as required to remove the danger or to demolish the building. If the owner refuses to do so the local authority itself may take the necessary action.

Department for Communities and Local Government: Brexit

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of the Civil Service workforce in his Department dedicated to planning for (a) the UK leaving the EU and (b) projects relating to the UK leaving the EU.

Mr Marcus Jones: Exit is an all-of-government operation. The Department for Exiting the European Union is doing detailed work with departments to prepare for the upcoming negotiations by understanding the risks and opportunities of leaving the EU and coordinating planning. Staff within the EU Exit team lead on providing advice to Ministers on EU Exit and exit-related issues. Members of staff across my Department also provide advice and analysis on EU Exit issues as required. Given the interactions between EU exit work and the Department’s other priorities, it would not be possible to give an accurate figure.

Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will review the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Marcus Jones: While we do not currently plan to review the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012, we are clear that council decision-taking must be transparent and open.

Homelessness

Thelma Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to reduce homelessness in (a) England, (b) West Yorkshire, (c) Kirklees and (d) Colne Valley.

Mr Marcus Jones: This Government is committed to preventing and reducing homelessness in England. That is why we are aiming to halve rough sleeping by 2022 and eliminate it altogether by 2027. We will set up a rough sleeping and homelessness taskforce and pilot a Housing First approach to tackle rough sleeping.We are implementing the most ambitious legislative reform in decades, the Homelessness Reduction Act, to prevent people becoming homeless in the first place by ensuring more people get the help they need earlier.We are also investing over £550 million until 2020 to prevent and reduce homelessness and rough sleeping, including through our £50 million Homelessness Prevention Programme. This is supporting 84 projects working across England to deliver an end-to-end approach to homelessness prevention.

Homelessness

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when he plans to bring into force the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017; and whether he plans to provide additional funding to councils to ensure the performance of their responsibilities under that Act.

Mr Marcus Jones: The Government is committed to preventing and reducing homelessness. The timely commencement of the Homelessness Reduction Act will ensure that local authorities intervene at earlier stages to prevent homelessness. It is our intention to commence the Act in April 2018. On Monday 16 October I updated the House on a commitment I made to fund the administrative costs of the additional new duties contained within the Act in line with the new burdens doctrine. Following further discussions with local authorities, the Government is providing an additional £11.7 million in new burdens funding taking the total amount from £61million to £72.7 million.

Non-domestic Rates

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether it remains his Department's policy to publish a list of local authorities that have notified that they have re-billed for each of the three rates relief schemes; and what the reasons are for the time taken to publish that data.

Mr Marcus Jones: The Department for Communities and Local Government published the list of local authorities that notified the Department that they have re-billed each of the three rates relief. It is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/business-rates-relief-schemes-2017-rebilling-progress

Social Rented Housing: Construction

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department has made of the number of homes for social rent that will be completed in (a) London and (b) England in (i) 2017, (ii) 2018, (iii) 2019 and (iv) 2020.

Alok Sharma: We have not made such estimates as the Mayor has overall responsibility for affordable housing policy and delivery in London. However data does show that in the first year of the new Mayoral administration there were no new homes for social rent started with GLA support – the first year on record this has fallen to zero.

Housing: Fire Prevention

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will place in the Library copies of all correspondence between his Department and the Local Government Association in the last three years relating to residential fire safety.

Alok Sharma: The information requested could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Devolution: Yorkshire and the Humber

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will place in the Library the results of the research commissioned by his Department relating to a One Yorkshire devolution deal.

Jake Berry: My Department has not commissioned any research relating to devolution in Yorkshire. It is for local leaders to put forward any devolution proposal on an appropriate geography and commanding wide support. We would welcome and consider any such proposal that did notcut across the Sheffield City Region deal.

Bed and Breakfast Accommodation

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, in how many cases during (a) 2015, (b) 2016 and (c) 2017 homeless families were unlawfully  placed in bed and breakfast accommodation for more than six weeks.

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what guidance his Department issues to local authorities to ensure that (a) private hostels, (b) bed and breakfasts and (c) other unsupported temporary accommodation providers have adequate fire safety measures.

Mr Marcus Jones: Time spent in temporary accommodation ensures no family is without a roof over their head. The Government is assisting areas to ensure that families spend no longer than 6 weeks in B&Bs, which includes protecting and maintaining the homelessness prevention funding at £315 million. We have also replaced Department of Work and Pension’s Temporary Accommodation Management Fee with a Flexible Homelessness Support Grant which local authorities can use more strategically to prevent and tackle homelessness. This amounts to £402 million over the two years from 2017/18.While the number of households in temporary accommodation is below the 2004 peak, the law is clear that households with dependent children should only be accommodated in B&B in an emergency and for no longer than six weeks, which commences when the household moves in.Local authorities have a duty to ensure that any accommodation provided for a homeless household under the homelessness legislation must be suitable.Part B (Fire safety) of the Building Regulations sets requirements for fire safety where building work takes place, typically including the erection, extension or alteration of a building. Guidance is issued by the Secretary of State in Approved Documents, specifically Approved Document B (Fire Safety) Volume 1 (dwellinghouses) and Volume 2 (Buildings other than dwellinghouses).The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 also applies to premises that provide sleeping accommodation, other than where they are a private home. The Fire Safety Order requires a ‘responsible person’ (usually the owner, employer or landlord) to carry out and review regularly a fire risk assessment of a premises to ensure adequate and appropriate fire safety measures are in place to manage the risk that lives could be lost in the event of a fire.The Government has produced guidance to help those with fire safety responsibilities in sleeping accommodation to comply with the provisions of the Fire Safety Order – https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fire-safety-risk-assessment-sleeping-accommodation. The extent to which the fire protection measures in place in any particular building comply with these provisions is a matter for the responsible person’s risk assessment.DCLG publishes regular statistics on rough sleeping, statutory homelessness, temporary accommodation and homelessness prevention and relief, including the numbers of households in B&B for over 6 weeks. These are published at national, London and local authority level. The latest statistics can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/homelessness-statistics.

EU Grants and Loans

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when he plans to announce the proposed shared prosperity fund.

Jake Berry: Government has committed to use European Structural Funds money that comes back to the UK following departure from the EU to create a United Kingdom Shared Prosperity Fund.My Department is working with other government departments to develop the Fund. There will be an announcement in due course.

Department for Communities and Local Government: EU Law

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what his Department's estimate is of the amount of EU legislation and regulation that can be incorporated into UK law without amendment.

Mr Marcus Jones: The European Union (Withdrawal) Bill will convert European Union law into UK law as it applies in the UK at the moment of exit. This will ensure that, wherever possible, the same rules and laws will apply the day after exit as they did before.The Government is still making a detailed assessment of what corrections will be required to make that law function appropriately on exit day. The Department for Exiting the European Union are working closely with departments across Government to ensure we make the changes required to deliver a functioning statute book on exit in the most efficient manner possible.

Emergency Services

Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will make an assessment of the feasibility of establishing an event to mark the contribution that the emergency services make to communities and to thank them for the work they do during times of crisis.

Jake Berry: We recognise the important contribution made by our emergency services to their communities. Their hard work and commitment to public service is celebrated the country over in local community events and also nationally.

Temporary Accommodation: Haringey

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what information his Department holds on the number of households from the London Borough of Haringey who have been placed in temporary accommodation outside of that borough in the last 12 months.

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of temporary accommodation stock that is in disrepair and requires maintenance so that the properties are fit for human habitation in (a) the London Borough of Haringey and (b) London.

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what information his Department holds on the average length of time that a household spends in temporary accommodation in (a) the London Borough of Haringey and (b) London.

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what information his Department holds on the average amount of time that a household spends in bed and breakfast accommodation, hotels and hostels as an interim accommodation measure (a) the London Borough of Haringey and (b) London in the last 12 months.

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what information his Department holds on the number of households placed in bed and breakfast accommodation, hotels and hostels as overnight interim accommodation in (a) the London Borough of Haringey and (b) London in the last 12 months.

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what information his Department holds on the number of households (a) with and (b) without dependent children who have resided in temporary accommodation for more than (i) one, (ii) two, (iii) three and (iv) four years in (A) the London Borough of Haringey and (B) London.

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what information his Department holds on the number of households in temporary accommodation that have been moved into permanent accommodation in (a) the London Borough of Haringey and (b) London in the last year.

Mr Marcus Jones: Time spent in temporary accommodation ensures no family is without a roof over their head. The Government is assisting areas to ensure that families spend no longer than 6 weeks in B&Bs, which includes protecting and maintaining the homelessness prevention funding at £315 million. We have also replaced the Department of Work and Pension’s Temporary Accommodation Management Fee with a Flexible Homelessness Support Grant which local authorities can use more strategically to prevent and tackle homelessness. This amounts to £402 million over the two years from 2017/18.While the number of households in temporary accommodation is below the 2004 peak, the law is clear that households with dependent children should only be accommodated in B&B in an emergency and for no longer than six weeks, which commences when the household moves in.My Department publishes regular statistics on rough sleeping, statutory homelessness, temporary accommodation and homelessness prevention and relief. These are published at national, London and local authority level . The latest statistics can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/homelessness-statisticsWe are remodelling the statutory homelessness data collection alongside the introduction of the Homelessness Reduction Act to give us better insights into the causes of homelessness and the support people need. We will move from aggregated to case-level data which will give us a much more detailed picture of what help people have received and whether it helped prevent their homelessness.Local authorities have a duty to ensure that any accommodation provided for a homeless household under the homelessness legislation must be suitable. In considering ‘suitability’ authorities must, by law, consider whether the accommodation is affordable for the applicant, its size, its condition, its accessibility and also its location.

Affordable Housing

Mr Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will make it his policy to include and make specific reference to rent-to-buy in the definition of affordable housing in the National Planning Policy Framework.

Alok Sharma: Holding answer received on 17 October 2017



Subject to the outcome of the consultation on the Housing White Paper, we envisage that affordable rent to buy housing which meets the criteria set out in the proposed definition of affordable housing would be classified as affordable housing in the revised National Planning Policy Framework.

Affordable Housing

Mr Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to encourage local authorities to include affordable rent-to-buy schemes in their affordable housing programmes.

Alok Sharma: Holding answer received on 17 October 2017



The Government introduced Rent to Buy to support aspiring tenants on low to middle income into home ownership, enabling them to save for a deposit.Funding for Rent to Buy is available from our Affordable Homes Programme 2016-21, which supports the delivery of a wide range of affordable homes with over £9 billion. As set out at Autumn Statement 2016, the programme is fully flexible and sets no ringfences on particular forms of tenure. We encourage providers to ensure that their schemes take account of the affordable housing needs in the local areas – to ensure that we build the right homes in the right places.

Affordable Housing

Mr Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to encourage private institutional investment in (a) affordable rent-to-buy schemes and (b) other affordable home ownership products.

Alok Sharma: Holding answer received on 17 October 2017



We continue to actively engage with and meet a range of organisations from the commercial sector and institutional investors who may have an interest in supporting delivery through the Affordable Homes Programme, which includes Rent to Buy and Shared Ownership.The Affordable Homes Programme, through which we have delivered 333,000 new affordable homes since 2010, has been opened up to enable private developers to deliver Shared Ownership.We have also set out a long term rent deal for social landlords in England, where increases will be limited to CPI + 1 per cent for 5 years from 2020. This will enable these providers the certainty they need to leverage in more private finance to build more homes across all tenures, including for home ownership.

Affordable Housing

Mr Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether privately-funded affordable rent-to-buy products will qualify for inclusion in Starter Homes Land Fund sites; and if he will make a statement.

Alok Sharma: Holding answer received on 17 October 2017



The Housing White Paper announced the Starter Homes Land Fund would be used to prepare more sites for Starter Homes and other affordable home ownership products. This can include Rent to Buy products.

Housing: Solar Power

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will change building regulations to ensure that all new buildings are constructed with solar panels.

Alok Sharma: The Department for Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Department for Communities and Local Government: Employment Agencies

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will list the agencies which supply staff to his Department.

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of whether the employment agencies which supply temporary staff to his Department are paid at least the national living wage.

Mr Marcus Jones: Holding answer received on 17 October 2017



The amount that employment agencies pay is a matter for them and they are of course required to comply with relevant law.All employment agencies that my Department uses pay at least the National Living Wage.

Department for Communities and Local Government: Living Wage

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of directly employed staff of his Department are paid at least the national living wage.

Mr Marcus Jones: All of the Department's directly employed staff are paid at least the national living wage.

Supported Housing

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of whether the proposed reform of funding for supported housing can provide for rising levels of need beyond April 2019.

Mr Marcus Jones: Developing a workable and sustainable funding model for supported housing is a priority for the Government. We have listened to the sector through our earlier public consultation on this issue, and we have also taken careful stock of the joint DCLG/DWP Select Committee report on supported housing. We know we need a funding model that delivers long term sustainability to support development of new much needed supply. We will set out further details on our plans later in the autumn.

Social Rented Housing: Businesses

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he has taken to remove barriers to social tenants running a business from home.

Alok Sharma: The Department wrote to all social landlords in November 2010 drawing their attention to guidance issued by the Chartered Institute of Housing designed to ensure tenants are provided with encouragement, help and advice on home working. The guidance, ‘Running a Business from Home’, includes advice for local authorities and other social landlords on how to amend their tenancies, if necessary, to make it easier for new and existing tenants to work from home

European Regional Development Fund

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much European Regional Development Fund funding by English region has been committed to projects to date; and what proportion of the total allocation that funding represents.

Jake Berry: The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) 2014-2020 programme for England has been allocated to Local Enterprise Partnership areas (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/eu-structural-funds-uk-allocations-2014-to-2020). The programme is valued at £2,830 million based on the current exchange rate.Below is a breakdown of commitments by regional delivery team up to the end of June 2017.  Areas covered by ERDF Delivery TeamsCommitments to end of June 2017 (£m)London51East of England and South East79East and West Midlands288North East and Yorkshire & the Humber277North West248South West238Total1,181

Floods

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many households have left their home as a result of flooding in the last three months.

Jake Berry: My Department does not collect comprehensive data on households who have left their homes as a result of flooding. This is a matter for individual local authorities.

Temporary Accommodation: Nottinghamshire

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many children in (a) Ashfield constituency and (b) Mansfield have been living in emergency accommodation for more than six weeks in (i) 2016-17 and (ii) since April 2017.

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many children have been placed in emergency accommodation in (a) Ashfield constituency and (b) Mansfield by local authorities in each year since 2010.

Mr Marcus Jones: Time spent in temporary accommodation ensures no family is without a roof over their head. The Government is assisting areas to ensure that families spend no longer than 6 weeks in B&Bs, which includes protecting and maintaining the homelessness prevention funding at £315 million. We have also replaced the Department of Work and Pension’s Temporary Accommodation Management Fee with a Flexible Homelessness Support Grant which local authorities can use more strategically to prevent and tackle homelessness. This amounts to £402 million over the two years from 2017/18.While the number of households in temporary accommodation is below the 2004 peak, the law is clear that households with dependent children should only be accommodated in B&B in an emergency and for no longer than six weeks, which commences when the household moves in.My Department publishes regular statistics on rough sleeping, statutory homelessness, temporary accommodation and homelessness prevention and relief, including the numbers of children in temporary accommodation. These are published at national, London and local authority level. The latest statistics can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/homelessness-statistics.

Social Rented Housing: Construction

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many social housing properties have been built by the local authority in (a) Ashfield constituency, (b) Mansfield and (c) England in each year since 2010.

Alok Sharma: Holding answer received on 17 October 2017



Figures on total new affordable housing supplied are available by local authority in live table 1008C: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-affordable-housing-supplyFigures are not available at constituency level.

Scotland Office

Scotland Office: Brexit

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of the Civil Service workforce in his Department dedicated to planning for (a) the UK leaving the EU and (b) projects relating to the UK leaving the EU.

David Mundell: The UK’s exit from the EU is an all-of-government operation. The Department for Exiting the European Union is doing detailed work with departments to prepare for the upcoming negotiations by understanding the risks and opportunities of leaving the EU and coordinating planning. Staff across the Scotland Office provide advice to Ministers on EU Exit and exit-related issues. Given the interactions between EU exit work and the Department’s other priorities, it would not be possible to give an accurate figure.

Scottish Business Taskforce

Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, if he will publish the membership of the new Scottish business taskforce he announced on 16 September 2017.

David Mundell: The membership of the Scottish Business Taskforce, chaired by Lord Dunlop, will be announced in advance of the first meeting which will take place on 27 October.

Scotland Office: EU Law

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what his Department's estimate is of the amount of EU legislation and regulation that can be incorporated into UK law without amendment.

David Mundell: The European Union (Withdrawal) Bill will convert European Union law into UK law as it applies in the UK at the moment of exit. This will ensure that, wherever possible, the same rules and laws will apply the day after exit as they did before. The Government is still making a detailed assessment of what corrections will be required to make that law function appropriately on exit day. The Department for Exiting the European Union are working closely with departments across Government to ensure we make the changes required to deliver a functioning statute book on exit in the most efficient manner possible.

Department for International Trade

Arms Trade: Trade Fairs

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 7 September 2017 to Question 8328, what assessment his Department made of the human rights records of those countries his Department invited to attend the Defence and Security Equipment International Exhibition that was held in London in September 2017 prior to those invitations being sent.

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 7 September 2017 to Question 8328, what factors his Department took into account when deciding which countries to invite to the Defence and Security Equipment International Exhibition that was held in London in September 2017.

Mark Garnier: The Department for International Trade and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office undertake a stringent process of scrutiny and approval before any invitations to foreign governments are issued, for major UK defence exhibitions like DSEI.Respect for human rights is a mandatory consideration in the process and a country would not be invited where that would contradict the UK’s international obligations. Invitations are reviewed if the situation in any one country changes significantly prior to an exhibition.

Arms Trade: Saudi Arabia

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, if he will review his Department's policy on arms sales to Saudi Arabia following alleged human rights violations in Yemen.

Mark Garnier: All export licences are issued in strict accordance with the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria. The framework was announced to parliament by the former Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, the Rt. Hon Member for Twickenham, Sir Vince Cable, as a Written Ministerial Statement on 25 March 2014.

Department for International Trade: Brexit

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of the Civil Service workforce in his Department dedicated to planning for (a) the UK leaving the EU and (b) projects relating to the UK leaving the EU.

Greg Hands: Exit is an all-of-government operation. The Department for Exiting the European Union is doing detailed work with departments to prepare for the upcoming negotiations by understanding the risks and opportunities of leaving the EU and coordinating planning. The Department for International Trade was established as a direct result of the referendum decision to leave the EU to secure UK and global prosperity by promoting and financing international trade and investment and championing free trade. Given the interactions between EU exit work and the Department’s other priorities, it would not be possible to give an accurate figure.

Overseas Trade: Commonwealth

Mr Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps he plans to take to facilitate closer and freer trading relationships with Jamaica and other Commonwealth nations when the UK leaves the EU.

Greg Hands: The government is committed to seeking continuity in our current trade and investment relationships as we leave the EU. We look forward to working with our friends and allies in the Commonwealth, including Jamaica, to achieve this. We want to increase not only UK trading links with the Commonwealth but also encourage greater intra–Commonwealth trade and investment. This will be a theme of the upcoming Commonwealth Summit in London. By creating a more vibrant and free trading environment globally, the UK will be much better placed to expand existing trade and investment relations, thereby promoting prosperity, stability and security.

Trade Agreements: Iran

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether his Department has discussed a potential new trade agreement with the Government of Iran in 2017.

Mark Garnier: There have been no discussions with the Government of Iran in 2017 on a potential new trade agreement.

Bilateral Aid: Iran

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how much bilateral assistance his Department has provided to the Iranian Government in each year since 2010-11.

Mark Garnier: Since the re-opening of the British Embassy in Tehran in August 2015, the Department for International Trade team in Tehran has been working with UK and Iranian businesses and officials to seek out opportunities for bilateral trade. Current UK exports of goods and services to Iran, 2010 – 2015 can be found in the ONS Pink Book 2016: https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/adhocs/006656balanceofpaymentsannualgeographicaldatatables.

European Free Trade Association

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what discussions have been had with the EFTA states on the UK continuing with such an agreement after the UK leaves the EU.

Greg Hands: The government is committed to seeking continuity in its current trade and investment relationships, including those covered by EU Free Trade Agreements or other EU preferential arrangements.

Foreign Investment in UK

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the Oral contribution of the hon. Member for Sefton Central of 12 October 2017, Official Report, column 428, what plans he has to (a) increase the number of jobs created as a result of foreign direct investment and (b) reduce the deficit in the trade of goods; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Garnier: The Department is focused on supporting projects that maximise wealth creation across the UK. This wealth creation includes jobs, innovation and productivity. The balance of trade in goods is only one element contributing to the UK’s current account balance. As the world economy recovers the current account deficit should narrow, in line with the Office for Budget Responsibility’s forecast of -2.0% of GDP in 2021.  The Government is supporting exports through UK Export Finance which has provided £14bn in support for UK exporters in the last five years and the Department for International Trade helping over 2,800 businesses new to exporting.

Foreign Investment in UK

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the Oral contribution of the hon. Member for Sefton Central of 12 October 2017, Official Report, column 428, what the average value was of each foreign direct investment project referred to in his Department's annual report and accounts in each of the last seven years.

Mark Garnier: This information is provided in confidence by inward investors and is therefore not published and non-disclosable.

Women and Equalities

Monuments: Parliament Square

Tom Watson: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, how much of the £5 million announced in the Spring Budget 2017 to commemorate the centenary of votes for women will be spent on the statue of Millicent Fawcett in Parliament Square.

Tom Watson: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what opportunities organisations and campaigns have had to bid for any of the £5 million dedicated to commemorating 100 years of women's suffrage.

Tom Watson: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what public consultation took place on how the £5 million announced in the Spring Budget 2017 to commemorate 100 years of women's suffrage should be spent.

Tom Watson: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, how much of the £5 million announced in the Spring Budget 2017 to commemorate 100 years of women's suffrage has been spent.

Tom Watson: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, how much funding per region and constituent part of the country has been allocated to mark the centenary of votes for women.

Anne Milton: The £5m funding is available for projects across England to celebrate the centenary of the 1918 Representation of the People Act, educate young people about democracy and encourage women to get involved in politics at all levels. The Government Equalities Office is in the process of agreeing how the Centenary Fund will be allocated. Given the limited time available and the size of the fund, a full public consultation was not feasible. Instead, we chose to consult widely with women’s organisations and non-governmental organisations on how the Government could support projects next year. As announced in April this year, the first statue of Millicent Fawcett, a leader of the suffrage movement, was erected in Parliament Square and funded from the £5 million Centenary Fund. Government has contributed just over £706,000 towards the statue’s costs. We are setting up a £1.5million Women’s Suffrage Centenary Grant Scheme specifically to support local and community groups across the regions of England to celebrate the centenary. This grant scheme has two funding streams: the small grants stream has a ceiling of £2,000 to support small local celebratory events. The larger grant stream will cover projects from £2,000 to £125,000 that will principally focus on increasing young people’s understanding and engagement with democracy as well as encouraging women to participate in public life. There will be a grant administrator to oversee the scheme which will be opening soon.‎ I have written to all members of the House to alert them to our plans and will be writing again when the scheme opens. We are also developing plans for supporting the reach, impact and legacy of existing centenary activities in a number of cities across England that have a strong suffrage history. The Barnett formula has been applied to this funding in the usual way and it is for the devolved administrations to decide how they choose to mark the centenary.

Equality

Jo Stevens: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what information the Government holds on the number of equality impact analyses undertaken by government departments in (a) 2015 and (b) 2016.

Nick Gibb: Under the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED), at Section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, all Government Departments are required to consider the potential impact of key decisions on groups with protected characteristics and keep a record of their decision-making process. The scope and nature of the analysis undertaken can vary considerably depending on the decision in question and the extent to which equalities considerations are relevant.Public bodies have flexibility in how they document their analysis under the PSED and are not explicitly required under the legislation to produce an Equality Impact Assessment (EIA). The evidence which Departments can use to demonstrate their compliance under the PSED could, for example, include meeting notes and advice in Ministerial submissions.The Government Equalities Office does not, therefore, keep a central record of how many EIAs are completed by all Departments as a simple tally of how many EIAs have been produced would not reflect the full extent to which equalities have been considered across the board.

Commons Reference Group On Representation and Inclusion

Jo Stevens: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, how many recommendations from the Commons Reference Group on Representation and Inclusion the Government has accepted since that group's foundation.

Nick Gibb: The Commons Reference Group consulted government on two recommendations from the Good Parliament report. The first was to support the permanent establishment of the Women and Equalities Select Committee. The Government accepted this recommendation and the committee was made permanent shortly after the 2017 general election. The second recommendation was to commence Section 106 of the Equality Act 2010, which would impose mandatory diversity reporting for candidates on political parties. The Government recently confirmed that it would not bring this into effect.

Gender Recognition Act 2004

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what the timetable is for the Government's review of the Gender Recognition Act 2004.

Nick Gibb: The Department announced on 23 July that it will be consulting on changes to the Gender Recognition Act in the Autumn. We are currently considering the content of the consultation. We will be making an announcement shortly.

Department for Transport

Housing: Demolition

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many properties in (a) the London Borough of Camden and (b) the UK have been demolished as a consequence of High Speed Rail 2.

Paul Maynard: Within the London Borough of Camden, the demolition of the National Temperance Hospital main building has occurred together with the partial demolition of the National Temperance Hospital Insul Wing. No other demolitions have been completed along the rest of the route.

Parking: Private Sector

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many private parking companies have had access to DVLA data suspended because they have been found not to follow the trade association's code of practice.

Jesse Norman: In the last financial year, two private parking companies had been suspended from receiving data from the Driver and Vehicle and Licensing Agency (DVLA) because they had been found not to follow the accredited trade association's code of practice.

Department for Transport: Brexit

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of the Civil Service workforce in his Department dedicated to planning for (a) the UK leaving the EU and (b) projects relating to the UK leaving the EU.

Jesse Norman: The whole of the Government is preparing for the UK to make an orderly and successful exit from the European Union. The Department for Exiting the European Union is doing detailed work with Departments to prepare for the upcoming negotiations by understanding the risks and opportunities of leaving the EU and coordinating planning. Staff within the International and Regulatory Reform Directorate of the Department for Transport lead on providing advice to Ministers on EU Exit and exit-related issues. Members of staff across this Department also provide advice and analysis on EU Exit issues as required. Given the interactions between EU Exit work and the Department’s other priorities, it is not possible to give an accurate figure.

Shipping: Fuel Oil

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he has taken to improve safety when fuel oil is discharged from maritime vehicles.

Mr John Hayes: The International Safety Management (ISM) Code provides an international standard for the safe management and operation of ships. For ships to which the ISM Code applies, the ship’s operator needs to have in place the appropriate procedures for managing all shipboard operations which include the handling of fuel oil (bunkering or cargo transfer) on board a ship and measures to deal with emergency situations, such as an oil spill. The operator must also identify all risks associated with their operations which will include this aspect and instigate appropriate safeguards against the identified risks. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency audit the ship’s operator’s safety management system periodically to ensure that the company/vessel remains in compliance with the requirements of the ISM Code and take appropriate action where the operator is falling below the required standards.

Railways: Electrification

Mohammad Yasin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans his Department has to modify overhead electrification equipment between Bedford and London.

Paul Maynard: We are developing plans to adjust the Overhead Line Equipment between Bedford and London in order to enable the new trains coming into service on the Midland Main Line from 2022 to run at the improved line speeds.

Midland Main Railway Line: Electrification

Mohammad Yasin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to review the decision to cancel the electrification of the entire Midland Main Line.

Paul Maynard: The upgrade to the Midland Main Line, which includes electrification to Kettering and Corby, will enable increased passenger capacity and reduced journey times, as well as introducing a brand new fleet of bi-mode intercity trains from 2022. This will deliver improved journeys sooner and is part of delivering the biggest upgrade of the Midland Main Line since it opened in 1870. We will only electrify lines where it delivers a genuine benefit to passengers.

High Speed Trains: Noise

Antoinette Sandbach: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether any studies or reports have been commissioned by HS2 Ltd or his Department on tolerances of vibration levels on high speed rail.

Paul Maynard: Consistent with the Noise Policy Statement for England 2010, the HS2 Programme sets two threshold effect levels for ground-borne noise and vibration, one where adverse effects can be observed (Lowest Observed Adverse Effect Level - LOAELs), and a higher one where significant adverse effects can be observed (Significant Observed Adverse Effect Level - SOAELs). These thresholds are based on the relevant British Standard: ‘British Standards Institution (2008), BS6472-1, Guide to Evaluation of Human Exposure to Vibration in Buildings, Part 1: Vibration Sources other than Blasting’. Further details can be found in the HS2 Phase One Information Paper E21, ‘Control of Ground-Borne Noise and Vibration from the Operation of Temporary and Permanent Railways’ at the below link: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/593574/E21_-_Control_of_ground-borne_noise_and_vibration_v1.4.pdf

High Speed Two: Complaints

Antoinette Sandbach: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which of the 14 recommendations made in the Ian Bynoe report on HS2 Ltd's complaints handling and community engagement of April 2016 have been implemented by HS2 Ltd.

Paul Maynard: HS2 Ltd is making good progress in implementing Ian Bynoe’s thirteen recommendations and his one suggestion. Of the thirteen recommendations, eleven have been addressed including the publishing of the updated Residents’ Charter in July 2017 and the Community Engagement Strategy in September 2017. There are two remaining recommendations which have already seen improvements and will be fully addressed by the end of December 2017. Work is in train to implement the report’s suggestion, to establish a best practice advisory panel comprising practitioners who have dealt with comparable community engagement challenges to that of HS2. The terms of reference for the panel will be considered by HS2 Ltd by the end of the year.

Railways: Bedford

Mohammad Yasin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the overall provision of Thameslink, London Midland and East Midlands services from London to Bedford to determine the requirements of rail users.

Paul Maynard: In general terms, the requirements of rail users are at the heart of the UK’s railway and of rail franchising policy. There is a robust process in place for determining the requirements of rail users, by way of the public consultations process as part of each franchise competition.

East Midlands Rail Franchise: Standards

Mohammad Yasin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will publish a minimum service pattern for the East Midlands rail franchise.

Paul Maynard: A minimum service pattern for the train services on the East Midlands rail franchise will be published in April 2018, alongside the Invitation to Tender and Stakeholder Briefing Document. It cannot be published before this date, because the analysis of the public consultation response needs to be considered to determine the final minimum service pattern.

Railways: Overcrowding

Mohammad Yasin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to incentivise train users to use Thameslink services to alleviate over-crowding on all East Midlands services to and from London.

Paul Maynard: The Government and rail industry are investing in the biggest improvement in rail travel since the Victorian era, including through the Thameslink Programme and the upgrade of the Midland Main Line. These programmes will improve rail journeys for passengers using the Midland Main Line to travel into London St Pancras:o From May 2018, passengers between Bedford and London will benefit from more frequent Thameslink trains, with more seats.o The Thameslink programme will also provide improved connections from Bedford to Farringdon for Crossrail as well as London Bridge.o Once the electrification to Corby is complete in 2020, passengers at Corby, Kettering, Wellingborough, Bedford, Luton and Luton Airport Parkway will benefit from a new, dedicated service into London St Pancras. The electric trains will be longer, with more seats.  The rail industry is working together to do all we can to improve services for passengers and will to work hard to keep disruption to a minimum.

East Midlands Trains: Passengers

Mohammad Yasin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made on the number of passengers using East Midlands train service (a) peak-time north-bound, (b) off-peak north-bound, (c) peak-time south-bound and (d) off-peak south-bound from Bedford in each of the last 10 years.

Paul Maynard: There are no published statistics on the annual number of passengers travelling on East Midlands train services from Bedford over the past 10 years. Passenger rail usage statistics for train operators are available on the Office of Rail and Road data portal at the following link: http://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/browsereports/12. Estimates of Station Usage gives annual totals for all passengers entering and exiting each station on Great Britain’s rail network, and is available on the Office of Rail and Road data portal at the following link:http://orr.gov.uk/statistics/published-stats/station-usage-estimates

East Midlands Rail Franchise

Mohammad Yasin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make it his policy to stipulate a minimum journey time from Bedford to London after the grant of the East Midlands train franchise.

Mohammad Yasin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to make it his policy that commuter trains will stop at additional stops between Corby and London St Pancras as a result of the conclusion of the East Midlands Train Consultation.

Mohammad Yasin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of Intercity trains that stop at Kettering he plans will also stop at (a) Market Harborough, (b) Loughborough, (c) Beeston, (d) East Midlands Parkway and (e) Derby in response to the East Midlands Train Consultation.

Paul Maynard: No firm decision on rail services in the next East Midlands franchise has yet been taken. The next franchise starts in August 2019. Invitations to Tender are due to be issued to potential bidders in April 2018. All options for rail services in the next franchise are subject to analysis of the potential benefits and our consultation with stakeholders, which closed on 11 October.

High Speed Two: Surveying

Antoinette Sandbach: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport of 6 September 2017, 154WH, if he will place in the Library copies of the light detection and ranging surveys completed by HS2 Ltd which identify wet rockhead features in Eddisbury constituency.

Paul Maynard: The surveys that my honourable Friend refers to show information about people’s properties, and need to be viewed alongside other data to be interpreted correctly. I have asked HS2 Ltd to provide a thorough briefing to my honourable Friend including these surveys.

Volkswagen: Exhaust Emissions

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with Volkswagen on emissions repairs for owners who are still experiencing problems.

Jesse Norman: The Secretary of State has met the VW board member responsible for resolving the emissions scandal and pressed him to ensure that any issues reported with consumers’ vehicles after the emissions repair are dealt with and resolved appropriately. We worked hard to secure important improvements to the Trust Building Measure that the company issued in June, to make sure it would support as many affected owners as possible.

Aerospace Industry: Certification

Darren Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with the European Aerospace Safety Agency about the certification of aerospace technology when the UK leaves the EU.

Mr John Hayes: The UK’s negotiations with the EU are currently focused on the withdrawal agreement. As part of the future relationship negotiations the Government will address how best to continue cooperation in the field of aviation safety and standards. The Government is considering carefully all the potential implications arising from the UK’s exit from the EU, including the implications for continued or discontinued participation in the European Aviation Safety Agency.

A1: Laybys

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what reasons lay-bys on the A1 south of Newark are currently closed; and when he expects them to be re-opened to motorists.

Jesse Norman: The closure of the lay-bys on the A1 is part of a planned scheme to improve drainage and resurface the carriageway between Newark and Stamford, which is being carried out in stages. The first stage of this work, between Newark and Grantham, was carried out from 4 to 22 September and is now complete. The scheme is due to be completed by February 2018. As the scheme(s) along the A1 progresses there is potential for other lay-by closures and where possible these will be advertised in advance. This work is generally carried out overnight, with the carriageway being closed from 8pm to 6am. In order to ensure that the scheduled works are carried out uninterrupted, lay-bys are fully closed for the duration of the works. This closure is to prevent vehicles, primarily HGV’s, from parking for long periods and being unable to leave the lay-by when the road is closed without disrupting the works.

Rolling Stock: South East

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 14 September 2017 to Question 9752, if he will take steps to encourage the use of Class 707 trains on coastal routes in the South East.

Paul Maynard: The future use of the Class 707 trains is a matter for the owner of the vehicles (Angel Trains Ltd). Our overall approach is to foster a healthy and high performing rolling stock market that delivers value-for-money services for passengers.

Thameslink Railway Line: Standards

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of Thameslink trains at Denmark Hill Station in the London Borough of Southwark have been late or cancelled in each of the last five years; and how many passengers have been so affected.

Paul Maynard: The Department does not hold data on trains arriving late or cancelled at specific stations.

Monarch Airlines: Pensions

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions took place between his Department and the Pension Protection Fund prior to the Pension Protection Fund assuming liability for the Monarch Airlines pension scheme.

Mr John Hayes: There were no discussions between the Department for Transport and the Pension Protection Fund prior to the transfer of the Monarch Airlines Retirement Benefits Plan to the Pension Protection Fund.

Iron and Steel: Fraud

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of how much falsified Kobe Steel is in the UK in (a) cars, (b) trains and (c) aeroplanes.

Mr John Hayes: The Department has yet to make an assessment on how much falsified Kobe Steel has been used.

Railways: Digital Technology

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions have taken place between his Department and Network Rail on the scope and cost of making TransPennine a digital railway.

Paul Maynard: We have announced that Network Rail will have up to £5 million to develop a plan setting out how they could embed digital technology between the cities of Manchester and York, to help us deliver a more reliable and safer railway. This work will be delivered alongside the options being developed for the upgrade of the Transpennine route.

Railways: Fares

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the cost of linking regulated rail fares to the consumer price index rather than the retail price index.

Paul Maynard: The Government’s use of RPI is consistent with the general indexation approach adopted for many rail industry costs. We have always put passengers first and have ensured that regulated fares have risen no faster than inflation for four years running. We are keeping that policy under review whilst we invest in the biggest modernisation programme in over a century. On average 97p in every pound spent on a ticket is invested back into the railway.

Transport: North of England

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will provide a detailed breakdown of the £13 billion his Department has allocated for expenditure on transport in the north.

Jesse Norman: The £13bn of transport investment in the North of England covers:full costs of Highways England schemes on the strategic roads network in the North West, North East and Yorkshire and Humber regions due to commence by 2020/21;other capital spending on the above regions by the Department for Transport and its delivery bodies over the financial years 2015/16 to 2020/21;the whole-life cost of the Intercity Express train fleet which is due to enter service on the East Coast Main Line from 2018 onwards. Not all of the Local Growth Fund is currently allocated, so as future allocations of the Local Growth Fund are made to Local Enterprise partnerships, the amount supporting transport projects in the north through to 2020/21 is likely to rise.  Project typeTotal Spend £bnHighways England capital expenditure1 4.8Local authority highway maintenance grant1.4Local authority integrated transport grant0.6Local Growth Fund (Department for Transport contribution)1.5Major transport schemes in local authorities1.5Intercity Express fleet for East Coast Main Line and other rail enhancements3.8Total13.61. covers enhancements (delivery + design and development work), renewals and major capital-funded maintenance, but not resource-funded maintenance or contributions from ringfenced funds

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Iran: Political Prisoners

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations the Government has made to the Government of Iran on the treatment of (a) all political prisoners and (b) political prisoners on hunger strike at Gohardasht Prison.

Alistair Burt: We continue to take action with the international community to press for improvements on all human rights issues in Iran, including prison conditions. We support the work of the Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Iran. We regularly raise human rights with the Iranian government at all levels. I raised concerns about human rights, including prison conditions, with my Iranian counterpart during my visit to Iran on 5 August.

Israel: Palestinians

Julie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to improve dialogue and communication between (a) Israel and Hamas, (b) Israel and the Palestinian Authority and (c) the Palestinian Authority and Hamas.

Alistair Burt: We encourage both Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) to take steps that rebuild trust and improve dialogue and communication which is crucial for negotiations to succeed. But whilst we and partners are doing all we can, ultimately peace will only come through fresh negotiations between the parties. The UK’s longstanding policy on reconciliation between the PA and Hamas is clear. We support the Palestinian people in realising self-determination through an independent, sovereign, and unified Palestinian state, in the West Bank and Gaza. We welcome Egyptian efforts to facilitate the return of the legitimate PA to Gaza, including enabling the recent PA Ministers’ visit to Gaza. We encourage those involved in the process to engage in good faith, allowing the PA to fully resume its government functions in Gaza, and ensuring compliance with the Quartet Principles.

Gaza

Julie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to end the blockade of the Gaza strip by Israel.

Alistair Burt: There is an urgent need to address the troubling situation in Gaza. I visited Gaza on 21 August and saw the extent of this firsthand. Ultimately, Hamas' decision to embrace violence and reject the Quartet Principles lies at the heart of the Gazan tragedy. We need a durable agreement that addresses the underlying causes of the conflict and transforms the situation in Gaza.We welcome the steps that Israel has taken to ease some restrictions. However, we want to see Israel go much further and we are continuing to call on Israel to do so. We continue to stress to the Israeli authorities the damage that their restrictions are doing to the living standards of ordinary Palestinians in Gaza and that supporting legal trade for Gazans is firmly in Israel's long-term interests.

Iran: British Nationals Abroad

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he had with his Iranian counterparts at the recent UN General Assembly in New York (a) in general and (b) on detained British-Iranian dual nationals.

Alistair Burt: The Prime Minister, the Foreign Secretary and I raised a number of bilateral issues, including all our dual-national consular cases, with our Iranian counterparts in the margins of the United Nations General Assembly in September. Iran’s position on dual nationality makes progress on our consular cases difficult; nonetheless we continue to raise these cases with the Iranian authorities at the highest levels and at every available opportunity. We assess that the approach we currently take is the one that is the most likely to be in the best interests of each of our dual-national prisoners in Iran.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe

Stephen Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the Iranian Government about the new charges being brought against Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe,

Alistair Burt: We are urgently seeking clarification from the Iranian authorities on reports that Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe is subject to further charges. I called the Iranian Ambassador to express my concerns, as did the Foreign Secretary in a call to Foreign Minister Zarif and a meeting with Vice-President Salehi on 11 October, but the scope of any additional charges remains unclear. Our Ambassador is continuing to press the Iranian authorities for further information.

China: Environment Protection

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations his Department has made to China on retaining habitats for animals on land in the seas around that country and in forests.

Mark Field: There have been no recent discussions between the Foreign Secretary and his Chinese counterpart on retaining animal habitats in and around China. However our Embassy in Beijing is in regular discussions with the Chinese Government and local organisations regarding environmental issues and the Illegal Wildlife Trade.

Iran: Capital Punishment

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will request that the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights investigates the 1988 executions of political prisoners in Iran.

Alistair Burt: The British Government opposes the use of the death penalty in all circumstances and takes any allegations of extrajudicial killings seriously. Whilst at present we have no plans to request an inquiry by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, we continue to take action with the international community to press for improvements on all human rights issues in Iran, including ending the death penalty and by supporting the work done by the Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Iran. We also raise our concerns directly with the Iranian government and I was able to raise this directly with my Iranian counterpart during my visit to Tehran in August this year.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Behavioural Insights Team

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 9 October 2017 to Question 9678, on payments to the Behavioural Insights Team, on what projects funds have been spent in each year since 2014.

Mark Field: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has funded the Behavioural Insights Team to deliver the following projects since 2014:In 2015-16Opening Prosperity: Innovating Mexico's largest social development programme;Influencing Mexican public policy on security and justice with a focus on policing, justice and critical national infrastructure;Using behavioural insights to improve workplace efficiencyIn 2016-17Opening Prosperity: Using mobile technologies, behavioural insights and policy expertise to deliver financial inclusion to Mexico's poorest;Tackling the culture of corruption in Argentina, Colombia and Mexico;Advice on using behavioural analysis as part of a full spectrum response to foreign policy issues.In 2017-18 (up to 9 October)Tackling the culture of corruption in Argentina, Colombia and Mexico;Applying behavioural insights to encourage residents of Barrio 31, one of the poorest settlements in Buenos Aires, to engage with the formal economy.

Turkey: Human Rights

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his counterpart in the Turkish Government on the suppression of human rights.

Sir Alan Duncan: The Foreign Secretary and I have regular discussions with our Turkish counterparts on human rights. We consistently encourage the Turkish Government to uphold the rule of law, to respect fundamental freedoms such a freedom of expression and to adhere to its international obligations. In addition the British Embassy in Ankara provides project support to a number of Turkish civil society organisations working in the area of fundamental freedoms. In recent years we have funded projects on supporting the freedom of expression, promoting women’s and minority rights, and tackling human trafficking.

Mohamed Ramadan

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made or steps he has taken on the imprisonment of Mohammad Ramadan in Bahrain.

Alistair Burt: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office and our Embassy in Bahrain continue to closely monitor the case of Mohammed Ramadan and we have raised concerns about this case both in public and in private at senior levels. We are aware that the Special Investigations Unit is continuing with investigations into complaints of torture in this case. We encourage a swift, transparent conclusion to the investigation.

Overseas Aid: Nature Conservation

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the Answer of 28 March 2017 to Question 909524, on nature conservation, what discussions he has had with the Department for International Development on using UK aid to protect endangered species abroad.

Mark Field: Combating the illegal wildlife trade (IWT) is a policy priority for the FCO. We work closely with Defra (as the policy lead), DFID and other government departments to bring the full range of HMG levers to tackling the trade. These three departments will co-host an international IWT conference in London 2018. A ministerial steering group which includes Ministers from Defra, DFID and FCO, has been set up and meets to dicuss the IWT.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Brexit

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of the Civil Service workforce in his Department dedicated to planning for (a) the UK leaving the EU and (b) projects relating to the UK leaving the EU.

Sir Alan Duncan: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) works closely with the Department for Exiting the European Union and other Government Departments to prepare for EU Exit. Staff within the FCO’s Europe Directorate lead on providing advice to Ministers on EU Exit and exit-related issues. However, staff across the Department leading on other issues also provide advice and analysis as required. It is therefore not possible to give an accurate figure, given the interactions between EU Exit work and the FCO’s other priorities.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe

Stephen Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the Iranian Government to secure the release of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe.

Alistair Burt: The Prime Minister, the Foreign Secretary and I raised a number of bilateral issues, including all our dual-national consular cases, with our Iranian counterparts in the margins of the United Nations General Assembly in September. Iran’s position on dual nationality makes progress on our consular cases difficult; nonetheless we continue to raise these cases with the Iranian authorities at the highest levels and at every available opportunity. We assess that the approach we currently take is the one that is the most likely to be in the best interests of each of our dual-national prisoners in Iran.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether his Department plans formally to call on the Iranian Government to release Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe.

Alistair Burt: The Prime Minister, the Foreign Secretary and I raised a number of bilateral issues, including all our dual-national consular cases, with our Iranian counterparts in the margins of the United Nations General Assembly in September. Iran’s position on dual nationality makes progress on our consular cases difficult; nonetheless we continue to raise these cases with the Iranian authorities at the highest levels and at every available opportunity. We assess that the approach we currently take is the one that is the most likely to be in the best interests of each of our dual-national prisoners in Iran.

Iran: British Nationals Abroad

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the British Ambassador to Iran has (a) received or (b) requested any recent invitations to visit British dual nationals detained at Evin prison.

Alistair Burt: Our Ambassador to Iran regularly requests consular access to our dual-national prisoners so that we can check on their welfare. Iran consider these individuals to be Iranians under Iranian law and has therefore not granted the British Government access. Although there is no international legal obligation to recognise dual nationality, we consider them to be British and will continue to request access to them.

North Korea: British Nationals Abroad

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what information his Department holds on the number of UK nationals who visited North Korea in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Boris Johnson: Very few British people visit North Korea and those that do are usually part of an organised tour. Whilst we encourage British nationals living or visiting North Korea to inform the British Embassy of their travel plans, not all do so. As a result, accurate numbers are not available for any given year.

Iran: Christianity

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to the Government of Iran on the cases of four Christians in that country who were due to have an appeal hearing in October 2017 on their sentence of 10 years imprisonment for involvement with the House Church movement.

Alistair Burt: We regularly raise human rights, including continued persecution of religious minorities with the Iranian government at all levels. I raised our concerns about the persecution of religious and ethnic minorities in Iran, including Christians, directly with my Iranian counterpart during my visit to Tehran on 5 August. We will continue to support the work done by the UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Iran.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Trade Agreements

Kirsty Blackman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many officials employed in his Department as of 12 October 2017 have substantial experience of international trade negotiations.

Mark Field: Building the UK’s prosperity is a key priority for the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO). Our network of Posts overseas work to deliver the goals of the whole of Government, including in support of the objectives of the Department for International Trade. A significant proportion of FCO officials, both in the UK and overseas, have worked on roles relevant to the prosperity agenda, within which international trade is included. The FCO is also investing further to equip its and other HMG staff with the necessary skills through the Trade Policy and Negotiations Faculty of the Diplomatic Academy.

Dual Nationality: Detainees

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many British dual nationals are detained abroad in their country of other nationality.

Rory Stewart: We are not always automatically notified if a dual British national is detained in their country of other nationality: a number of governments do not recognise dual nationality. However, where they or their families do make a request for support or we are made aware of it, our policy is publically available in 'Support for British nationals abroad: A guide' published in 2011, which states that: "If you are a dual British national in a third country (that is, a country of which you are not a national), we will offer you our full support. If you are a dual British national in the country of your other nationality, we would not normally offer you support or get involved in dealings between you and the authorities of that state. We may make an exception to this rule if, having looked at the circumstances of the case, we consider that you are particularly vulnerable".

USA: UNESCO

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has raised the US withdrawal from UNESCO with his US counterpart.

Sir Alan Duncan: Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials in our Embassy in Washington have discussed the decision with US counterparts.

Cameroon: Human Rights

Mrs Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to support the human rights of opposition group members in Cameroon.

Rory Stewart: Our High Commission in Cameroon meets regularly with opposition groups to discuss the human rights challenges facing the country. We are monitoring the trial of Anglophone protesters at the military tribunal in Yaoundé very closely and lobbied the government to resolve issues raised by recent protests through inclusive dialogue.

Kurds: Politics and Government

Nadhim Zahawi: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for UK foreign policy of the political situation in Kurdistan since the referendum in that region on 25 September 2017.

Alistair Burt: We regret the Kurdish referendum on independence and continue to respect the unity and territorial integrity of Iraq. Any political process towards independence should be agreed with the Government of Iraq. We are urging all parties, including Iraq’s neighbours, to maintain calm and avoid statements and actions that could be perceived as inflammatory, particularly in light of events in Kirkuk. Iraq’s future lies in dialogue.

Brexit

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on his article on UK-EU relations, published in The Daily Telegraph on 15 September 2017.

Boris Johnson: I have held and continue to hold frequent conversations with Cabinet colleagues about how to deliver a fantastic Brexit which works for both us and the EU. As you will fully appreciate I cannot divulge those conversations.

Department for International Development

Gaza: Electricity

Julie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to provide funding and support to people in Gaza to restore full electricity supply from domestic and international sources.

Alistair Burt: We remain concerned about the situation in Gaza and continue to monitor it closely. The UK’s Ambassador in Tel Aviv and our Consul-General in Jerusalem have raised our concerns with the Israeli authorities and the Palestinian Authority (PA) respectively. We have encouraged the PA to ensure their policy in Gaza does not unnecessarily impact the civilian population. We urge all the parties to find a sustainable solution. The UK is a long-term supporter of United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) which provides basic services to 1.3 million people in Gaza including basic health care, and we are supporting humanitarian access, enabling reconstruction efforts and investing in job creation.

Gaza: Health Services

Julie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to provide funding and support to healthcare centres in Gaza which are operating without electricity or fuel for backup generators.

Alistair Burt: We remain concerned about the humanitarian situation in Gaza and continue to monitor it closely, including the effect electricity shortages are having on the health sector. We urge all the parties to find a sustainable solution. The UK is a long-term supporter of United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) which provides basic services to 1.3 million people in Gaza including basic health care.

Department for International Trade: EU Law

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what her Department's estimate is of the amount of EU legislation and regulation that can be incorporated into UK law without amendment.

Alistair Burt: There is no EU Legislation within my Department’s responsibilities that will need to be incorporated into UK law.

Burma and Bangladesh: Rohingya

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what discussions she has had with the Bangladesh Government on providing refugees from Rakhine State, Myanmar, with safe passage and aid on their arrival in Bangladesh.

Priti Patel: I’ve spoken to the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary and reiterated the UK’s commitment to relieve the plight of the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. The issue is a complex one, but the UK has not shied away from its responsibility and we are working closely with the Government of Bangladesh to provide life-saving assistance to thousands of displaced men, women and children. Our initial support is already enabling food to reach 65,000 refugees, health care for 50,000, and emergency shelter for more than 26,000. We are also supporting 7,500 children, many of whom are at risk of sexual violence and trafficking.

Developing Countries: Trade Agreements

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to secure preferential trading access to the UK for least developed countries after the UK leaves the EU.

Alistair Burt: As we set out in the trade White Paper, ‘Preparing for our future trade policy’, published on 9 October, we will introduce legislation so the UK is ready to put in place a trade preferences scheme as we leave the EU. This will, as a minimum, provide the same level of access as the current EU trade preference scheme. It means that around 48 least developed countries across the globe will continue to benefit from duty-free exports into the UK on all goods, other than arms and ammunition.

Syria: Humanitarian Aid

Matthew Pennycook: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what humanitarian support her Department is providing to civilians in Idlib in northern Syria.

Alistair Burt: DFID funds the UN and NGOs to provide humanitarian support in Idlib, including food, clean water, sanitation, healthcare, shelter and education. Also, through the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund, we help deliver key services and access to education and jobs. Between January and June 2017, our support in Idlib governorate provided 550,000 people with access to clean drinking water, immunised 362,000 children under five, and helped 254,000 children access education.

Burma: Humanitarian Aid

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what discussions she has had with the Myanmar Government on allowing access for humanitarian workers and aid to Rakhine State.

Priti Patel: I am appalled by the ethnic cleansing and persecution of the Rohingya, including reports of the Burmese military and local militia forcing hundreds of thousands of men, women and children from their homes and villages being burnt. The relentless denial of aid is a matter of life and death for those still in northern Rakhine. I have repeatedly called on the Burmese authorities to stop the violence in Rakhine state, and to allow full and unfettered humanitarian access to provide a lifeline to all those living in Rakhine State. Government officials continue to raise this at the highest levels with the Burmese Government.

Department for Education

Education: Assessments

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to promote safe alleviation of stress for young people in exams times; and whether there are any initiatives that teachers who are worried about pupils can use.

Nick Gibb: Examinations are, by their very nature, stressful but the Government has already taken steps to reduce the examination burdens upon pupils. At GCSE, we have made examinations linear, with examinations only at the end of the course of study, giving pupils at least two full years of study before they sit external examinations. At A level we have also made the examinations linear with no January assessment window, and have created a new structure that will enable students to study for two full years towards an A level without the need to take an AS level examinations at all.In addition, the Department is taking forward various projects to support schools further, including extending a joint training pilot to train mental health leads in schools and specialist services across 1200 more schools and colleges in 20 additional Clinical Commissioning Group areas.We are also investing £1.5 million to pilot a range of peer support programmes and approaches for schools, colleges, community groups and online.

Schools: EU Nationals

Thelma Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many nationals of other EU member states work in schools in (a) Kirklees, (b) West Yorkshire and (c) England.

Nick Gibb: The information requested is not collected centrally.

Children: Day Care

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many childcare and early-years education settings in England contain at least one qualified teacher.

Mr Robert Goodwill: Workforce data can be found in the annual Early Years Census published by the Department for Education. The workforce data collected in the census relates only to private, voluntary and independent (PVI) settings and childminders. The most recent census which contains information on the graduate workforce can be found here:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/education-provision-children-under-5-years-of-age-january-2016 (9LA). In maintained nursery and state-funded primary schools where 3- and 4- year olds benefit from funded early education, it is a requirement that at least one member of staff is a school teacher. Data on the number of maintained and state-funded primary schools can also be found in the census (Table 11).

Truancy: Fines

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has to review her Department's policy on fining parents whose children are absent from school because of term-time vacations.

Mr Robert Goodwill: Parents should avoid taking their children out of school during term-time, except in exceptional circumstances. The evidence shows every extra day of school missed can affect a pupil’s chances of achieving good GCSEs, which has a lasting effect on their life chances.We have a robust local control regime to enforce this, which enables the school or local authority to issue a penalty notice that where parents have failed to secure their child’s regular attendance at school, including if they take their child out of school for a vacation without permission.Every local authority must draw up a Code of Conduct for issuing penalty notices, in consultation with governing bodies and head teachers in their area. The Code will set out the occasions when it will be appropriate to issue a penalty notice. This can, for example, include circumstances where a pupil is persistently late to school without a valid reason. A penalty notice must be issued in accordance with that Code.In April 2017 the Supreme Court unanimously agreed with our position that no child should be taken out of school without good reason.

Children: Day Care

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children in England attending funded childcare and early-education settings do not have contact with a qualified graduate professional.

Mr Robert Goodwill: Early years workforce data can be found in the annual Early Years Census published by the Department for Education. The workforce data collected in the census relates only to private, voluntary and independent (PVI) settings and childminders. Data on the number of children in PVI settings with a qualified graduate professional can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/education-provision-children-under-5-years-of-age-january-2016 (See Table 13). Children in receipt of a funded place at a maintained nursery or state-funded primary school will have contact with a qualified graduate, due to the requirements in these settings for at least one member of staff to be a school teacher.

Pupils: Personal Records

Darren Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether any data extracted from the national pupil database has been transferred from an approved third-party organisation to any other organisation.

Darren Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much income her Department derived from allowing third-party organisations to access the national pupil database.

Nick Gibb: Third Party applications to use the National Pupil Database (NPD) are only progressed if they are compliant with the Education Act and Data Protection Act. As part of the approvals process, officials including legal experts and senior civil servants with data expertise assess the application for public benefit, proportionality (ensuring the minimum amount of data is used to meet the purpose), legal underpinning, and that the strict information security standards have been satisfied. Onward data sharing of data requested by approved third-party organisations is only possible where this is made explicit within the NPD application form. The application form specifically states that the requestor ‘will not further disclose, publish or pass on the data without the prior written approval of the department’. Any additional organisation receiving any NPD data would also be required to satisfy the same security controls as the original requestor. The Department for Education typically process approximately 350 requests a year for individual level data per year. The vast majority of these do not involve onward sharing of individual level data. A full review of each underlying NPD data request to definitively quantify the number of instances which have involved sub-contracting or onward data share arrangements from an approved third-party organisation could only be provided at disproportionate cost. The Department does not charge for access to data from the National Pupil Database.

Apprentices: West Midlands

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many apprenticeships have been offered at Level 2 and above to those aged over 24 in the West Midlands in the last 12 months.

Mr Robert Goodwill: All apprenticeships are at level 2 and above. Data for the provisional, full academic year, 2016/17, shows there were 28,410 apprenticeship starts for those aged 25 and above in the West Midlands region. Data for the latest final, full academic year, 2015/16, shows there were 27,220 apprenticeship starts for those aged 25 and above in the West Midlands region. All figures are rounded to the nearest 10.

Association of Independent LSCB Chairs: Finance

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding her Department provided to the Association of Independent Local Safeguarding Children's Board Chairs in 2016-17.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Department for Education awarded the Association of Independent LSCB Chairs a grant of £25,000 in the financial year 2016-17.https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dfe-and-executive-agency-spend-over-25000-2016-to-2017.

Children: Day Care

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the hour funding rate was given to each of the eight early implementer areas (a) during the trial period for the 30 hours childcare entitlement and (b) following the rollout of that programme in September 2017.

Mr Robert Goodwill: As early implementation began prior to the introduction of the Early Years National Funding Formula (EYNFF), the eight early implementer local authorities were set interim funding rates for delivering the additional 15 hours.The independent evaluation report of early implementation, published in July 2017, did not disclose the identities of the eight local authorities. To ensure the fidelity of the evaluation we have continued to anonymise them in this response.The interim funding rates together with the EYNFF rates are as follows:Local authorityRate to LAs during early implementationEYNFF rate 17/18A£4.88£5.38B£5.17£5.57C£4.01£4.30D£4.88£4.69E£4.14£4.30F£4.41£4.54G£3.88£4.30H£4.07£4.30 Further information on the early implementation evaluation report can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/30-hours-free-childcare-early-implementation-evaluation.Please note there is an error in the report with local authority ‘A’ funding rate being reported as £4.84 instead of £4.88, we are rectifying this inaccuracy.

Children: Day Care

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Answer of 1 November 2016 to Question 50573, what plans she has to update statutory guidance to ensure that childcare providers are not using compulsory charges for parents as a condition of their children accessing a free childcare place with that provider.

Mr Robert Goodwill: In March 2017 the department published revised statutory guidance which came into force on 1 September 2017. In the guidance we re-stated the government’s position on providers charging for additional services or consumables. Local authorities are responsible for ensuring that all eligible children can take up their place free of charge and that providers’ charging policies enable this. The guidance states that all parents should have the same rights to access a free entitlement place, regardless of whether they choose to pay for additional hours of provision, additional activities or meals. In July 2017, we published additional operational guidance that provided further clarification on the charges providers can make.

Department for Education: Staff

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Answer of 2 November 2016 to Question 50565, how many staff of her Department are engaged in measuring the effect of the new entitlement for free early years education and childcare.

Mr Robert Goodwill: As at 30 September 2017, there were 31.33 full time equivalent members of staff working on the delivery of 30 hours free childcare.These roles include putting in place the legislative framework, detailed policy and eligibility checking systems required to deliver the 30 hours entitlement; providing analytical support and strategic management of the offer as it rolls out; and a fieldforce of regional advisors supporting local authorities and providers to prepare for effective delivery of the entitlement.A proportion of all of these roles will involve monitoring the implementation of the rollout of 30 hours free childcare.

Pre-school Education: Finance

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Answer of 21 October 2016 to Question 49012, on pre-school education, how much of that record investment in childcare has been allocated in 2016-17; to what programmes that funding has been allocated; and whether the Government plans to review the allocation process for that funding in each year until 2020.

Mr Robert Goodwill: Our record investment, referred to in Parliamentary Question 49012, refers to the expected annual spend on childcare by 2020. It includes funding for the free early years entitlements as well as childcare subsidies such as Tax Free Childcare and the childcare element of Working Tax Credit. In terms of pre-school education, our final allocations for 2016-17, which predated the introduction of 30 hours of free childcare and the Early Years National Funding Formula, can be found at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2016-to-2017. The allocations process for funding pre-school education is set out in the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) Technical Note which can be found at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2017-to-2018.

Special Educational Needs

Lucy Frazer: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of her Department working more closely with the Department of Health to ensure that special needs schools are not expected to increase the services they provide without receiving additional funding.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The 2014 Children & Families Act introduced new statutory duties that require clinical commissioning groups and local authorities to work together in joint arrangements to support children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), and for the first time created a duty for health agencies to ensure that health care provision in a child or young person’s EHC plan is secured.The Department for Education already works closely with the Department for Health on SEND. We have introduced the Ofsted and Care Quality Commission inspections of local area effectiveness in delivering their SEND duties, which began in May 2016. These inspections are highlighting where partners, including health services, are working well together to deliver SEND responsibilities, and where there are areas for improvement, and we are working with NHS England to provide support and challenge to local areas where required.More broadly, since the Act’s introduction, NHS England has led a programme board for Children with Complex Needs, which includes those with SEND. This ensures it sits firmly within health governance structures and has a broad range of membership, including Department of Health, Department for Education, delivery partners and parent representatives. The NHS Mandate also contains an objective on SEND, and the NHS Assurance Framework, which is used to hold CCGs to account, now contains measures on SEND.

Schools: Crime

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance her Department has provided to schools on the obligation to report criminal behaviour by pupils (a) in general and (b) under the age of criminal responsibility whilst on school premises.

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance her Department has made available to schools on reporting criminal behaviour committed by pupils outside of school hours and off-site.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Department issues advice on behaviour and discipline to all schools, including on the need for every school to have a behaviour policy and advice on teachers in schools’ powers to discipline for poor behaviour. The Department’s Behaviour and Discipline in Schools statutory guidance, which applies to governing bodies sets out that police should always be informed where behaviour is of a criminal nature or poses a serious threat to a member of the public. This guidance can be accessed here:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/behaviour-and-discipline-in-schools-guidance-for-governing-bodies.In addition, the Department publishes Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE). KCSIE is statutory guidance to which schools must have regard when carrying out their duties to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. Guidance set out in KCSIE includes duties for schools to ensure:All school staff should receive safeguarding and child protection trainingAll school staff should know what action to take if they have concerns about a childWhere there are concerns a child has been harmed (or is at risk of harm), the school should consider a referral to children’s social care (and the police) as appropriateKCSIE is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/keeping-children-safe-in-education--2.

Schools: Discipline

Leo Docherty: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to raise levels of discipline in schools.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Government has already made great strides in empowering teachers to tackle bad behaviour, making clear teachers can use reasonable force to maintain behaviour, extending their searching powers and allowing teachers to impose same-day detentions. Recognising poor behaviour is still a problem in some schools. The Government commissioned behaviour expert Tom Bennett to conduct two independent reviews on behaviour. The first, focused on initial teacher training (published July 2016). The second, focused on behaviour management in schools, with a particular focus on leadership, culture and systems used to tackle disruptive pupil’s behaviour (published March 2017). This review highlighted strategies school leaders can employ to design, build, and maintain a school culture that prevent classroom disruption, maintain good discipline and promotes pupils’ education, focus and wellbeing.

Pre-school Education: Admissions

Dr  Dan Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the report entitled, Study of early education and development: the potential value for money of early education, published in July 2017, what sample size was used to calculate the mean hourly delivery cost for a three to four-year old place in the east of England.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The mean hourly delivery cost for a three-four-year old place in the east of England was not used in the Study of Early Education and Development (SEED): the potential value for money of early education, published in July 2017. A mean hourly delivery cost for a three-four-year old place in England was used; this was £3.72. This was taken from the SEED: the cost and funding of early education report, published January 2017.

Children: Day Care

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reason parents must confirm every three months that they are eligible for 30 hours of free childcare; and if she will make a statement.

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to inform parents of the need to confirm every three months that they are eligible for 30 hours of free childcare.

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy to require parents to confirm their eligibility for free childcare once a year instead of every three months.

Mr Robert Goodwill: Every three months parents need to reconfirm their eligibility for 30 hours free childcare. This is to check they still meet the eligibility criteria and are therefore still entitled to receive the offer. Taxpayers’ money should not be used to give parents free childcare if they do not qualify for it. Parents should receive a communication via text message and/or email, four weeks before their reconfirmation deadline and again two weeks before the deadline if they still have not reconfirmed. This communication will tell them that they have a secure message to read. This message will remind them to reconfirm and can be found in the ‘secure messages’ section of their childcare account. The Department for Education continues to disseminate key messages on 30 hours free childcare policy to parents through Local Authorities. The Department for Education consulted extensively on the 30 hours free childcare policy. This included the provision that parents would have to reconfirm their eligibility for 30 hours free childcare every three months. The policy was debated by both Houses of Parliament during passage of the Childcare Bill in 2016. The policy was also subject to further scrutiny in both Houses when the Childcare (Early Years Provision Free of Charge) (Extended Entitlement) Regulations 2016 were debated. There are currently no plans to amend these regulations.

Children: Day Care

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many people who have been issued with a 30 hours eligibility code have not had their code validated due to (a) a failure to find a childcare provider willing to offer a place and (b) technical issues validating that code.

Mr Robert Goodwill: On 12 October 2017, the Department for Education published data that set out the number of eligibility codes issued for 30 hours’ free childcare by 31 August 2017 and the number of codes validated by 9 October 2017. This release of data can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/651185/30-hours_childcare_management_information_October_2017_update.pdf. The Department for Education does not hold information relating to why a parent has not yet validated their 30 hours’ eligibility code.

T-levels: Apprentices

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with service providers and sectoral organisations on the implications of T-levels for the continued provision of Level 2 apprenticeships.

Mr Robert Goodwill: On 11 October, we published a T level Action Plan. This makes it clear that T levels will be offered at Level 3, will have the prestige of A levels and will form part of a clear and high quality technical option which supports progression to employment and higher levels of study. In line with Lord Sainsbury’s recommendations, T levels and apprenticeships will together form this new technical education offer, and will act as two different routes to skilled employment. We have been speaking to all types of providers on the implementation of T levels, including the impact on level 2 provision – to gain their views on how we can best support them to successfully deliver the reforms. Later in 2017 we will hold a public consultation to allow anyone to submit their views.

T-levels

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many organisations and businesses are signed up to deliver T-level work placements from 2020.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Government is taking action now to make sure high quality work placements are available when the first T levels go live in September 2020. From April next year, £74million in additional funding will be available to help providers to start building effective relationships with employers to deliver placements from September 2018. We will also be asking employers what additional support they will need to deliver work placements through the public consultation on T levels being launched later this year. Earlier this month we launched a work placement pilot scheme to test different models and approaches to delivering T level placements. We have worked with over 150 employers and providers to design these pilots and we will be working with a range of employers, providers and approximately 2500 students to deliver placements through this pilot this academic year.

T-levels

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of staffing at the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education for implementation of the T-levels.

Mr Robert Goodwill: Since its establishment in April 2017, the Institute for Apprenticeships has been responsible for ensuring high quality apprenticeships in England. We expect that its responsibility for T level implementation under the Technical & Further Education Act will be commenced in a phased approach. Resourcing decisions are being considered as part of the Department’s overall implementation programme, and we will ensure that the Institute has sufficient staff to fulfil its new responsibilities as it takes them on.

T-levels: Further Education

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what involvement further education colleges or providers will have in T-levels panels.

Mr Robert Goodwill: T level panels are made up of a range of industry professionals who will be collectively responsible for advising on the content of new technical qualifications. This includes representatives from further education colleges and other providers who have experience of working with employers to address skills needs. Colleges and other providers, will play a vital role on advising on the ability to deliver these new qualifications and level of demand, working in partnership with employers. We will publish the full list of panel members in due course.

Children: Asylum

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when her Department plans to publish the safeguarding strategy for unaccompanied children, announced in November 2016.

Mr Robert Goodwill: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 7 September 2017 to Question 6376 : http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-questions-answers/?page=1&max=20&questiontype=AllQuestions&house=commons%2clords&dept=60&uin=6376.

Pre-school Education: Capital Investment

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 6 October 2017 to Question 106148, how many of the 350 projects for which Departmental funds were allocated are not yet complete.

Mr Robert Goodwill: We are working closely with all projects awarded funding in this capital round. We regularly assess their progress and will publish the outcomes in due course when all projects have completed.

Primary Education: Standards

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of (a) disadvantaged and (b) non-disadvantaged pupils in (i) Ashfield constituency, (ii) Mansfield and (iii) England achieved the expected levels in reading, writing and mathematics for Key Stage 2 in the 2016-17 academic year.

Nick Gibb: The Department will be publishing its revised ‘National curriculum assessments: Key Stage 2, 2017 Statistical First Release (SFR)’ in December 2017[1]. This publication will include the percentage of disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged pupils achieving the expected standard in the requested subjects for England[2]. The SFR will include the same information for constituencies[3]. The SFR does not break down the figures for disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged pupils by constituency in the Department, but could do so on request after the data is published.[1] The publication will be found at this link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-key-stage-2 [2] This data will be located in the ‘national tables’ [3] This data will be located in the ‘additional tables’

Primary Education: Standards

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of pupils in (a) Ashfield constituency, (b) Mansfield and (c) England reached expected Key Stage 2 levels in (i) reading, (ii) writing, (iii) spelling, punctuation and grammar and (iv) mathematics in the 2016-17 academic year.

Nick Gibb: The Department will be publishing its revised National curriculum assessments: key stage 2, 2017 Statistical First Release (SFR)1 in December 2017. This publication will include the requested figures for pupils in (a) Ashfield constituency and (b) Mansfield in the additional tables. The percentage of pupils nationally who reached the expected levels, in 2016/172, were (i) 71% for reading, (ii) 76% for writing3, (iii) 77% for spelling, punctuation and grammar and (iv) 75% for mathematics.The publication will be found at this link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-key-stage-2Found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-curriculum-assessments-key-stage-2-2017-provisional - this is provisional, not final dataWriting is based on teacher assessment, not standardised assessment

Free Schools

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will set out the criteria by which the Education and Skills Funding Agency is required to seek prior approval from HM Treasury before sites can be purchased that are for free schools; and if she will make a statement.

Nick Gibb: The Department has to meet the requirements set out in HM Treasury publication, Managing Public Money, when sites are purchased for free schools. Consideration is given to each transaction and whether it meets any criteria that may require escalation to HM Treasury under Managing Public Money, including whether a potential transaction is novel, contentious or otherwise repercussive. The Department has agreed a process with HM Treasury for making purchases where the acquisition price exceeds the Red Book Valuation. This includes a requirement that those acquisitions where the price exceeds the Red Book Value by more than 60% receive prior approval from HM Treasury.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Air Pollution

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much funding has been allocated from the public purse to local authorities to support steps to establish air quality plans.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Government is requiring local authorities where persistent exeedances of nitrogen dioxide concentrations have been identified to produce local air quality plans to reduce the pollution in the fastest possible time. We are helping them by providing £255 million to develop and implement their plans. In addition we will be establishing a Clean Air Fund, which will allow local authorities to bid for additional money to support the implementation of measures to improve air quality. This funding is over and above the £2.7 billion we are already investing to support air quality improvements.

Air Pollution: Schools

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what guidance his Department plans to provide to schools in areas of high air pollution hotspots to help them protect children's health.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Through the Air Quality Grant we help local authorities tackle air quality in their areas in order to reduce the impact on peoples’ health and create cleaner and healthier environments. This fund has awarded more than £52 million to a variety of projects since it started in 1997, including schools engagement work by local authorities.During air pollution episodes, Defra issues advice via the UK Air website which includes links to health advice issued by Public Health England (PHE).My officials are currently working with PHE and the Association of Directors of Public Health to develop a series of outreach events aimed at Directors of Public Health and designed to help them deliver and communicate local action.

Chemicals: Regulation

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential adequacy of the legislative framework regulating the chemicals industry when the UK leaves the EU.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Withdrawal Bill will convert current EU law into domestic law wherever practical, giving consumers and businesses as much certainty as possible. This includes laws relating to chemicals. The UK is strongly committed to the effective and safe management of chemicals. That will not change when we leave the EU.

Dogs: Imports

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of the number of puppies being smuggled illegally into the UK.

George Eustice: We take the issue of illegal trafficking of puppies very seriously, and the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) are gathering intelligence to help us understand the size of the problem regarding puppy smuggling.Defra and APHA work constructively with other government agencies and charities to share intelligence on illegal movements of pet animals. APHA has established an intelligence team which will gather data, intelligence and information on illegal movement of dogs and puppies and, as appropriate, share with enforcement bodies.APHA works in partnership with the Dogs Trust and Kent County Council to identify and seize dogs and puppies which were not compliant with the requirements as part of a pilot project at Dover responding to intelligence on potential non-compliance. Approximately 600 puppies have been seized and taken into quarantine since the initiative began in December 2015.

Marine Conservation Zones

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has set a target date for the designation of an ecologically coherent network of maritime conservation zones.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: We aim to consult on the third tranche of Marine Conservation Zones in English waters in the first half of 2018, with designations within 12 months of that date. The objective is to complete our contribution to the international ecologically coherent network of Marine Protected Areas in the North East Atlantic, by including a representative range of the species and habitats found in our seas. Marine protected areas in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are a devolved matter.

Motor Vehicles: Waste Disposal

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans he has to introduce a vehicle scrappage scheme.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: In July this year the Government launched the UK plan for tackling roadside nitrogen dioxide concentrations. The Government has required local councils to produce local air quality plans which reduce nitrogen dioxide levels in the fastest possible time. The Government is considering how to support people impacted by local plans and will consult in the autumn on measures to support affected motorists, residents and businesses. This could, for example, include retrofitting vehicles, support for car clubs, improved public transport offers or targeted vehicle scrappage. A number of vehicle manufacturers have recently launched their own national scrappage and trade in schemes that offer substantial discounts off the purchase of a new vehicle.

Deer and Squirrels: Cornwall

Scott Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to control deer and grey squirrel populations in Cornwall.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: While the government and its partner organisations have a role to play in providing the right framework to support sustainable management of deer, primary responsibility for their management lies with individual landowners and managers, and local communities. Where deer are causing economic or environmental damage or representing a health and safety risk, landowners and occupiers are encouraged to participate in the running of local deer management groups, or to set one up where a group does not already exist. These groups comprise all those who have an interest in a particular locality and, where necessary, may involve a managed cull to reduce population densities. On the question of grey squirrels the government is committed to working with land owners and other organisations as part of its strategy to support targeted grey squirrel control in the UK. Defra and the devolved administrations are signatories to the UK Squirrel Accord, which aims to promote a coordinated approach to controlling grey squirrels and securing the future of our red squirrels and woodlands. Working as part of the UK Squirrel Accord enables the government to deliver on its grey squirrel action plan for England announced by the Forestry Commission in December 2014. As part of the government’s long term strategy for controlling grey squirrel populations, Defra has provided funding to the Animal and Plant Health Agency to explore the potential for developing a fertility control method for grey squirrels.

Birds of Prey

Mrs Anne-Marie Trevelyan: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many hen harrier nests there were on (a) RSPB and (b) non-RSPB reserves in each of the last five years; how many of those nests failed to have any chicks fledge in each of those years; and what the known causes of each of those nest failures were.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) has primary control over access to two known hen harrier breeding sites: the RSPB reserve at Geltsdale and United Utilities landholding in the Bowland Fells, a special protection area. Table 1. Breeding data from sites primarily controlled by RSPBYearAreaOutcomeLikely reason for failure2014Bowland5 chicks fledged 2014Bowland4 chicks fledged 2015BowlandNest failedUnknown - chicks dead in nest2015Bowland1 chick fledged 2015BowlandNest failedMale missing2015BowlandNest failedMale missing2015BowlandNest failedMale missing2015BowlandNest failedPredation2015GeltsdaleNest failedMale missing2016Geltsdale1 chick fledged   Table 2. Breeding data from sites primarily controlled by other bodiesYearAreaOutcomeLikely Reason for failure2013County DurhamNest failedFemale disappeared/deserted2013NorthumberlandNest failedAbnormal eggs2014Cumbria2 chicks fledged 2014Peak District4 chicks fledged 2015Cumbria2 chicks fledged 2015Cumbria3 chicks fledged 2015Cumbria3 chicks fledged 2015Northumberland4 chicks fledged 2015Northumberland5 chicks fledged 2016Northumberland2 chicks fledged 2016Northumberland5 chicks fledged 2017Northumberland4 chicks fledged 2017Northumberland3 chicks fledged 2017NorthumberlandNest failedSuspected predation2017Northumberland3 chicks fledged 2017NorthumberlandNest failedLikely bad weather - chicks dead in wet nest2017Yorkshire DalesNest failedSuspected predation2017Yorkshire DalesNest failedSuspected predation

Department for Exiting the European Union

Higher Education: EU Countries

Stephen Gethins: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what steps he is taking during negotiations on the UK leaving the EU to establish recognition in EU countries of UK degrees completed by (a) UK and (b) EU students after the UK has left the EU.

Mr Robin Walker: The UK has been clear from the start that we want to make sure that the livelihoods of EU citizens in the UK and UK nationals in the EU will be protected after the UK leaves the EU.In citizens’ rights negotiations on professional qualifications, we have reached agreement with the Commission on the status of recognition decisions obtained by frontier workers and citizens who are resident in the other territory on the withdrawal date.The Commission has not yet accepted our sensible proposal that qualifications that are in the course of being obtained by UK and EU students on the withdrawal date should continue to be recognised as they were before. However, we will seek to agree a continued system for the mutual recognition of professional qualifications and will continue to press the matter.

Research

Stephen Gethins: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, with reference to the Government's policy paper, Collaboration on Science and Innovation: A Future Partnership Paper, published on 6 September 2017, what discussions he has had with the Scottish Government on a future UK-EU science research framework.

Stephen Gethins: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, with reference to the Government's policy paper, Collaboration on Science and Innovation: A Future Partnership Paper, published on 6 September 2017, what discussions he has had with the Scottish Government on continued participation in EU and Euratom research programmes.

Mr Robin Walker: We have been clear from the start that the Scottish Government should be fully engaged in our exit from the EU. The UK Government’s paper, Collaboration on Science and Innovation: A Future Partnership Paper, provides a basis for further discussion, including with the Scottish Government, on the future partnership the UK wants to build with the EU. This includes any future participation in both EU and Euratom research programmes. There are many areas of alignment between this paper and the Scottish White Paper on the benefits of continued research collaboration with the EU. We are committed to positive and productive engagement with the Scottish Government going forward as we seek a deal that works for the entire United Kingdom.

Horizon 2020

Stephen Gethins: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, with reference to the Government's policy paper, Collaboration on Science and Innovation: A Future Partnership Paper, published on 6 September 2017, whether it is his policy that the UK should remain a participant in Horizon 2020 throughout any transitional period.

Mr Robin Walker: Collaboration on research and innovation is mutually beneficial to the UK and the EU. The UK will look to establish an ambitious agreement on science and innovation with the EU that ensures the valuable research links between us continue to grow. This, as well as any continued participation in Horizon 2020 during an implementation period, will form part of wider negotiations as the UK exits the European Union.As our paper makes clear, this is an area in which we would welcome a discussion with the EU.

Science

Stephen Gethins: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, with reference to the Government's policy paper, Collaboration on Science and Innovation: Future Partnership Paper, published on 6 September 2017, what discussions he has had with non-EU participants in EU science programmes on the UK adopting similar association frameworks to those which such non-EU participants have with the EU.

Mr Robin Walker: As the UK prepares to exit the European Union, the Secretary of State has regular engagement with both EU and Non-EU partners on a range of issues relating to international collaboration on science and innovation.As set out in our paper, as the UK leaves the EU, one of our core objectives is to continue to collaborate with European partners on major science, research, and technology initiatives.There are a range of existing precedents for third country participation in EU scientific collaboration that the UK and the EU can build on - however, given the UK’s unique relationship with the EU and the mutual benefits from past collaboration, there may be merit in going further than this, if both parties agree.

UK Membership of EU

Darren Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what plans the Government has to leave the European Economic Area.

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, pursuant to the Answer of 19 September 2017 to Question 10092, on UK membership of the EU, what steps his Department will need to take to confirm formally withdrawal from the EEA agreement as a matter of international law.

Mr Robin Walker: As the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union said when he addressed the House on 7th September, there is agreement that when we leave the EU, the European Economic Area Agreement will no longer operate in respect of the UK.

Children: Protection

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that the UK can maintain access to EU data, intelligence, training, research and security infrastructure for the purposes of child protection.

Mr Robin Walker: The UK works with other EU Member States through a range of EU tools and measures that help facilitate cross border cooperation in the area of law enforcement and criminal justice to help safeguard children and young people, among others.It will be in the mutual interest of the UK and the EU to agree new arrangements that enable continued cooperation across a wide range of these structures and measures to support effective safeguarding of children and young people across borders.The exact details of our future relationship with the EU on law enforcement and criminal justice will need to be agreed in the course of negotiations.

British National (Overseas): EU Countries

Stephen Gethins: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the status of British National Overseas passport holders in EU member states after the UK leaves the EU.

Stephen Gethins: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what plans he has through negotiations with the EU to ensure that British National Overseas passport holders continue to hold the same rights as they do now after the UK leaves the EU.

Mr Robin Walker: The purpose of the citizens' rights deal is to clarify the future status and rights of EU citizens exercising free movement rights in the UK, and of UK nationals exercising free movement rights in the EU at a specified date.UK nationals' includes British citizens, British subjects with the right of abode in the UK, and British Overseas Territories Citizens who acquire citizenship from a connection with Gibraltar.For the purposes of the citizens' rights deal, 'UK nationals' does not include British National Overseas passport holders, who do not currently fall within EU free movement regulations.

UK Trade with EU

Stephen Gethins: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, with reference to the position paper, Continuity in the availability of goods for the EU and the EU, published on 21 August 2017, what formal role he plans to give to the devolved administrations during negotiations on the UK leaving the EU on the matter of continuity in the availability of goods for the EU and the UK.

Stephen Gethins: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, with reference to the position paper, Continuity in the availability of goods for the EU and the EU, published on 21 August 2017, what formal role he plans to give to the overseas territories during negotiations on the UK leaving the EU on the matter of continuity in the availability of goods for the EU and the UK.

Stephen Gethins: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, with reference to the position paper, Continuity in the availability of goods for the EU and the EU, published on 21 August 2017, what formal role he plans to give to the Crown Dependencies during negotiations on the UK leaving the EU on the matter of continuity in the availability of goods for the EU and the UK.

Mr Robin Walker: The UK Government is negotiating on behalf of the United Kingdom and we are committed to getting a deal that works for the whole country. The UK Government will work closely with the devolved administrations, as well as the governments of Gibraltar, the other Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies on the detail of proposals for continuity in the availability of goods, to ensure their priorities are taken into account.

Disadvantaged

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of leaving the single market and customs union on disadvantaged communities and people working in low-income and insecure jobs.

Mr Steve Baker: When the UK leaves the European Union, we will also the leave the EU Customs Union and develop and independent trade policy which benefits the whole country.The Government is committed to negotiating a deep and special partnership with the European Union and is conducting a wide-ranging programme of analysis. It would not be appropriate, however, to publish details that could undermine the UK's negotiating position with the EU, and Parliament has voted not to publish such details.

Customs Officers

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what steps his Department is taking to (a) employ and train customs officials and (b) establish customs control posts and additional capacity in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

Mr Steve Baker: HMRC and Border Force are responsible for the UK’s customs arrangements.HMRC are considering the capacity and capability requirements for future customs arrangements as part of their EU exit planning. This will be kept under review as negotiations progress.The future customs controls required following EU Exit will depend on the outcome of the negotiations. All options are being considered. In the unlikely event that an agreement with the EU is not reached, the Government will work to ensure that trade between the UK and the EU is as frictionless as possible.

Brexit

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what steps he has taken to (a) employ and train staff and (b) acquire appropriate premises for a new cadre of regulators in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

Mr Steve Baker: Individual governmental departments are responsible for resourcing and accommodation decisions for all existing and any potential new Arms Length Bodies that fall within their remit. This includes those with regulatory functions. The Government will continue to plan for a range of scenarios and will be ready to take any necessary steps to ensure that we are ready for exit day.

Equipment: Manufacturing Industries

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what steps he plans to take to mitigate the potential effect of the UK leaving the EU on UK machinery manufacturers who wish to continue to export to EU countries.

Mr Robin Walker: We fully recognise the importance of the UK’s machinery sector. The Government’s objective remains to secure trade with Europe that is tariff-free and as frictionless as possible in all sectors, including in heavy machinery. We will pursue an ambitious and comprehensive free trade agreement with the EU to achieve this. This includes zero tariffs on trade in goods and minimising the regulatory and market access barriers for both goods and services.We will need to build a bridge from our exit to our future partnership, to allow business time to adjust, and to allow new systems to be put in place. Therefore we are proposing a time-limited implementation period where we continue to have access to one another’s markets on current terms. We expect this to last for a period of around two years. We are pressing to agree this as early as possible, so as to provide certainty but will of course be subject to ongoing negotiations.

Department for Exiting the European Union: Brexit

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of the Civil Service workforce in his Department dedicated to planning for (a) the UK leaving the EU and (b) projects relating to the UK leaving the EU.

Mr Steve Baker: The Department for Exiting the European Union is responsible for overseeing negotiations to leave the EU and establishing the future relationship between the UK and EU. As such all staff in the Department are dedicated to planning or supporting the work on EU exit.

Department for Exiting the European Union: Trade Agreements

Kirsty Blackman: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how many officials employed in his Department in June 2016 had substantial experience of international trade negotiation.

Kirsty Blackman: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how many officials employed in his Department as of 12 October 2017 have substantial experience of international trade negotiations.

Mr Steve Baker: The Department for Exiting the European Union has released information on the UK's negotiating team which is publicly available on gov.uk. The information requested is not held centrally and therefore, we are not in a position to provide this for particular groups of staff.The Department for Exiting the European Union now has over 500 staff and is drawing together expertise from a wide range of departments where there is specific and relevant knowledge. All departments are equipping themselves with the resources they need to get the best deal for the UK.

Economic Situation

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, pursuant to the Answer of 13 September 2017 to Question 8561, if he will publish his Department's studies into the effect of the UK leaving the EU on different sectors of the UK economy.

Mr Steve Baker: The Government is committed to negotiating a deep and special partnership with the European Union and is conducting a wide-ranging programme of analysis. It would not be appropriate, however, to publish details that could undermine the UK's negotiating position with the EU, and Parliament has voted not to publish such details.

Attorney General

Syria: Armed Conflict

Liam Byrne: To ask the Attorney General, pursuant to the Answer of 13 September 2017 to Question 8633, how many British citizens have been (a) charged and (b) convicted of acts relating to the conflict in Syria and Daesh activities in that region.

Jeremy Wright: The Crown Prosecution Service does not hold these official figures. The Home Office Statistical Bulletin publishes data about convictions quarterly but does not distinguish those which relate to Syria and Daesh.Although official figures do not show how many were Syria or Daesh related, Of the 105 persons charged with a terrorism-related offence in the year ending June 2017, 33 had been prosecuted (as at the time of data provision to the Home Office, 14 July 2017), 32 of which were found guilty. A further 68 were awaiting prosecution.

Social Media: Misuse

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Attorney General, how many prosecutions there were for abusive behaviour on social media platforms in each of the last three years; and how many of those prosecutions resulted in a conviction.

Jeremy Wright: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not maintain a central record of the number of prosecutions or convictions for abusive behaviour on social media platforms. This information could only be obtained by examining CPS case files, which would incur disproportionate cost.

Religious Hatred: Islam

Afzal Khan: To ask the Attorney General, with reference to page 11 of the Crown Prosecution Service's (CPS) 2016-17 annual report, on the appointment of inclusion and community engagement managers, whether the CPS consulted (a) Muslim community based organisations and (b) other groups addressing anti-Muslim prejudice and hate crime.

Jeremy Wright: The CPS regularly consults with Muslim community based organisations to address anti-Muslim prejudice and hate crime. Nationally, the CPS consults with community-based organisations through its Community Accountability Forum, which includes a representative from the All Parliamentary Group on British Muslims. At a local level, Inclusion and Community Engagement Managers also engage with local Muslim community based organisations through Local Scrutiny and Involvement Panels (LSIPs) in each CPS Area.The CPS circulated the job advert containing details of the posts of Inclusion and Community Engagement Managers to the Community Accountability Forum, LSIPs and other community contacts, to encourage the widest possible pool of people to apply.The CPS is also a member of the cross Government anti-Muslim Hatred Working Group, the cross Government Hate Crime Strategic Group, and the Independent Advisory Group on Hate Crime, all of which include a number of representatives from Muslim organisations that actively tackle anti-Muslim hatred.

Hate Crime

Afzal Khan: To ask the Attorney General, with reference to page 11 of the Crown Prosecution Service's (CPS) 2016-17 annual report, on hate crime campaigns, what hate crime campaigns (a) have been delivered to date and (b) are to be delivered in future by region and partner organisation.

Jeremy Wright: The CPS is committed to raising awareness of hate crime and increasing the confidence of victims and witnesses when they come to report it. In August 2017, to coincide with the launch of the revised public statements on hate crime, the CPS launched the week-long #HateCrimeMatters campaign with involvement from each CPS Area as well as a wide range of local and national community partner organisations. The social media campaign had over 7,000 contributors and the campaign website has had almost 6,000 views.During National Hate Crime Awareness Week (NHCAW), the CPS is standing alongside its community partner organisations and published its Annual Hate Crime report on 17 October. This was accompanied by communications activity including both national and local engagement with the NHCAW campaign.

Wales Office

Wales Office: EU Law

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what his Department's estimate is of the amount of EU legislation and regulation that can be incorporated into UK law without amendment.

Alun Cairns: The European Union (Withdrawal) Bill will convert European Union law into UK law as it applies in the UK at the moment of exit. This will ensure that, wherever possible, the same rules and laws will apply the day after exit as they did before. The Government is making a detailed assessment of what corrections will be required to make that law function appropriately on exit day. The Department for Exiting the European Union are working closely with departments across Government to ensure we make the changes required to deliver a functioning statute book on exit in the most efficient manner possible.

Ports: Wales

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what assessment his Department has made of the readiness of Welsh ports to facilitate any added procedural processes in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a withdrawal agreement.

Alun Cairns: Since the vote to leave the EU I, as well as a number of ministerial colleagues, have visited ports in Wales to discuss a number of issues, including their operational readiness for our leaving the European Union. The Government is committed to ensuring that withdrawal from the EU is a successful and smooth process for all parts of the UK, and we are conscious that a significant proportion of the traffic at some ports is not currently subject to customs controls. We want to ensure that traffic continues to flow freely at all UK ports and airports, including Holyhead, Fishguard and Pembroke Dock, and we will seek to ensure that customs arrangements and mechanisms are as frictionless as possible, and that trade fluidity is maintained. Officials in the Wales Office and colleagues across Government are working with port operators and other stakeholders in Wales to support the smooth and orderly implementation of these new arrangements.

Ministry of Justice

Crime: Victims

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what representations his Department has received on breaches of the Victims' Code during the last three years; and what information his Department holds on such representations made to the Victims' Commissioner in that same period.

Dr Phillip Lee: We have committed to publishing a strategy for victims in early 2018 and representations on the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime (Victims’ Code) will help inform this work. We are engaging with victims, victims’ groups and criminal justice agencies and anticipate receiving further written representations as part of this process. I can confirm that the Department received representations on 23 January 2017 from Voice4Victims containing case studies of victims’ experiences, including apparent failures to receive entitlements under the Victims’ Code. The Commissioner for Victims and Witnesses, Baroness Newlove, is independent of government and as such, the MoJ does not hold records of what representations the Commissioner may have received.

Crime: Victims

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will meet representatives of the Victims' Forum; and if he will make a statement.

Dr Phillip Lee: The Government is committed to publishing a strategy for victims in early 2018. We are engaging with victims, victims’ groups and criminal justice agencies to ensure that the strategy provides victims with the support they need to recover from the devastating effects of crime. As Minister with responsibility for victims’ policy, I attended the last meeting of the Victims’ Forum on 14 March. We would of course consider any representations to meet with members of the Victims’ Forum as part of our ongoing engagement.

Victims' Commissioner

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he or Ministers of his Department last with the Victims' Commissioner; and whether the effectiveness of the Victims' Code was discussed at those meetings.

Dr Phillip Lee: The role of the Commissioner for Victims and Witnesses is defined in the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004. It is to promote the interests of victims and witnesses, encourage good practice in their treatment, and regularly review the operation of the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime. The Ministry of Justice Ministerial team hold regular meetings with the Victims’ Commissioner, Baroness Newlove, which cover a wide range of topics within this remit. The Victims’ Commissioner publishes notes of her meetings with stakeholders on her website.

Crime: Victims

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps the Government has taken as a result of recommendations and conclusions made in the reports by the Victims' Commissioner, entitled A Review of Complaints and Resolutions for Victims of Crime and A Review of Children's Entitlement in the Victims Code, published in January 2015 and February 2017 respectively.

Dr Phillip Lee: The Commissioner for Victims and Witnesses regularly reviews the operation of the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime (Victims’ Code). Subsequent to publication of the Commissioner’s review concerning complaints and resolutions, the government issued a revised version of the Victims’ Code in October 2015. The revised Victims’ Code includes both an entitlement for victims to make a complaint, as well as a number of duties on service providers regarding complaints. We have considered Baroness Newlove’s review of children’s entitlements in the Victims’ Code and note the findings with interest. It is important to state that they are based on a very small sample of victims’ experiences of the criminal justice system. The national roll out of pre-trial cross examination (s.28) to vulnerable witnesses, which includes all children and aims to help them give their best evidence, continues, and will be extended to a further six Crown Court Centres this autumn.

Crime: Victims

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress has been made on the consultation on the need for a victims of crime law which was announced on 18 January 2017.

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, who the Government has consulted on the review of the Victim's Code which was announced on 18 January 2017.

Dr Phillip Lee: On 18th January 2017 Baroness Williams of Trafford stated in the House of Lords that the Government was considering how to address a lack of awareness among victims of their rights under the code. Baroness Williams further stated that the Government is considering how compliance with the code might be improved or monitored, and exploring how those responsible for the delivery of rights and entitlements might be held accountable for failings. Baroness Williams then committed to the House that the Government would set out a strategy for victims. I can confirm that this Government is committed to publishing a strategy for victims in early 2018. We are engaging with engaging victims, victims’ groups, and criminal justice agencies. We are working with the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners to better understand compliance with the Victims’ Code at a local level. We will be carrying out further engagement which we will announce in due course.

Domestic Violence: Convictions

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people convicted of domestic violence have convictions for violence against (a) two, (b) three and (c) more than three victims.

Dr Phillip Lee: The Ministry of Justice does not hold this data. Offences involving domestic abuse can take various forms and are prosecuted under the offence in law that best reflects their nature and circumstances, for example, harassment, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, a public order offence. These offences can take the form of domestic abuse or non-domestic abuse and data collected from courts does not distinguish between the two.

Prisons: Visits

Mike Kane: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effect on assisted prison visits of the system going online.

Mr Sam Gyimah: ‘Help with Prison Visits’ is a new digital service, launched in June 2017, that administers the Assisted Prison Visits Scheme in addition to the paper process. It has been essential to develop an alternative payment method for our most vulnerable claimants as giro cheques have been discontinued.We have been monitoring and improving the service since it was launched and plan to evaluate implementation more fully in the New Year.

Courts

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when his Department plans to introduce the Courts Bill.

Dominic Raab: The Government is committed to introducing legislation to modernise the courts system as soon as parliamentary time allows.

Rape: Trials

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many applications were made by defence lawyers to the Crown Court to cross-examine rape victims on their sexual history in each of the last three years; and on how many occasions those applications were granted.

Dominic Raab: The information requested is not held centrally.

Probation

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he plans to devolve the operation of any probation functions in England and Wales to (a) local authorities or (b) police commissioners.

Mr Sam Gyimah: We are committed to improving the delivery of local criminal justice services, and are working with a range of stakeholders, including Police and Crime Commissioners, Local Authorities and other government departments, to do this. We have agreed justice devolution deals with London and combined authorities in Greater Manchester, the Liverpool City region and Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. We have a Memorandum of Understanding in place with Greater Manchester Combined Authority to support collaborative working, and are in discussion with other regions, including London, about further opportunities.

Durham Tees Valley Community Rehabilitation Company

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness and performance of the Tees Valley Community Rehabilitation Service.

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness and performance of the London Community Rehabilitation Service.

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness and performance of the Wales Community Rehabilitation Service.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The performance of all Community Rehabilitation Companies is assessed through a range of service levels and through a robust contract management and assurance process. Performance information against these service levels is published quarterly, and the latest data can be found at:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/633101/community-performance-quarterly-mi-jan-mar-2017.pdf Public protection is our top priority and we will take all necessary action to make sure the probation system is reducing reoffending and preventing future victims.

Courts: Domestic Violence

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what guidance prevents the disclosure of the address of a victim of domestic violence to their alleged perpetrator during court proceedings.

Dominic Raab: Courts regularly handle extremely sensitive cases and have a range of measures in place to maintain the confidentiality of participants’ details including victims of domestic abuse.In the Criminal Courts, there is no requirement for a victim’s address to be provided in their written statement, therefore these courts do not need guidance to prevent disclosure.The Family Courts follow guidance laid out in Standard Operating Procedures that requires all files with confidential addresses to be checked by a manager or another officer.In the civil courts, there is no formal guidance, however where the address of the applicant or respondent is required, victims of domestic abuse are able to apply to have their safe address withheld and provide an alternative address.

Ministry of Justice: EU Law

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what his Department's estimate is of the amount of EU legislation and regulation that can be incorporated into UK law without amendment.

Dominic Raab: The European Union (Withdrawal) Bill will convert European Union law into UK law as it applies in the UK at the moment of exit. This will ensure that, wherever possible, the same rules and laws will apply the day after exit as they did before.The Government is still making a detailed assessment of what corrections will be required to make that law function appropriately on exit day. The Department for Exiting the European Union are working closely with departments across Government to ensure we make the changes required to deliver a functioning statute book on exit in the most efficient manner possible.

Ministry of Justice: Government Property Unit

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 12 October 2017 to Question 105820, if he will make public applications made to the Government property unit to extend or renew their lets in each year since 2012 which were granted with conditions attached to them; and what the conditions were in each case.

Dr Phillip Lee: The information requested is not held centrally.

Cabinet Office

Myeloma

Jim Shannon: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people have been diagnosed with multiple myeloma in the UK in each of the last five years.

Chris Skidmore: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. Ihave asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA response
(PDF Document, 72.56 KB)

Armed Forces: Census

Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of including a question in the next census about membership of the armed forces community.

Chris Skidmore: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. Ihave asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA response
(PDF Document, 106 KB)

Census and Electoral Register: Young People

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many 18 to 25-year olds in (a) the London Assembly area, (b) the Manchester mayoral area, (c) the Liverpool mayoral area and (d) Wales are recorded (i) in the latest census estimate and (ii) on the electoral register.

Chris Skidmore: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. Ihave asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA response
(PDF Document, 158.36 KB)

Public Sector: Equality

Afzal Khan: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which (a) groups and (b) organisations were involved in stakeholder consultation exercises as part of the Race Disparity Audit, broken down by (i) sector, (ii) race and (iii) ethnicity.

Damian Green: The Cabinet Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Government Departments: Procurement

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent assessment he has made of the level of Government procurement from small and medium-sized enterprises.

Caroline Nokes: On 11th October 2017 we published the latest small and medium-sized enterprises’ spending performance figures:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/central-government-spend-with-smes-2015-to-2016These show that government spent £12.2 bn in 2015-16 with small and medium sized enterprises, more than we have ever before recorded.The Government remain committed to a challenging target to ensure that a third of their procurement spending is with small businesses by 2022, and we are continuing to take action to achieve that.

Government Departments: Buildings

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answers of 12 October 2017 to Question 105513 and of 12 September 2017 to Question 8360, what the reasons are for the time taken to launch the Government Property Agency; and if he will make a statement.

Caroline Nokes: The Shadow Government Property Agency (GPA) is committed to delivering transformational change across government departments including hubs, IT and smarter working. To achieve this, the GPA continues to work closely with government departments to understand requirements in readiness for the robust delivery of property services and benefits to government.

Intelligence and Security Committee

Paul Flynn: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he expects the Intelligence Security Committee for the current Parliament to be formally reconstituted; and if he will make a statement.

Damian Green: The Cabinet Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.